


Spiraling

by Rozavie



Category: The Hollow (Cartoon)
Genre: Baseball, Canon Related, Canon Universe, High School, M/M, Major Original Character(s), No Angst, No Sex, No Smut, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character(s), Post-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:13:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 29,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24317860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rozavie/pseuds/Rozavie
Summary: (This fan fiction and summary contain major spoilers for both season 1 and season 2 of "The Hollow.") Adam, Mira, and Kai were all adjusting well to their unusual lives as avatars in their own, personal virtual world. It was just like living in the physical world, with all of the same friends, family, food, and emotions. And just like in real life, when it comes to teenagers, emotions tend to complicate things. And Kai's emotions toward his best friend Adam were about to complicate a whole lot.
Relationships: Adam & Kai & Mira (The Hollow), Adam & Mira (The Hollow), Adam & Reeve (The Hollow), Adam/Kai (The Hollow), Kai & Mira (The Hollow), Kai & Vanessa (The Hollow), Mira/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 107
Kudos: 239





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Quick reminder: This story will have really important spoilers, so please don't read if you don't want spoilers for either season of "The Hollow." I don't want people complaining about how I spoiled the show for them, so this is your last chance to bail! Thank you!  
> If you are all caught up, good! Read on! Enjoy!

Kai glanced out of his bedroom window at the slowly rising sun. Dainty imported doves chirped from the pruned shrubbery in the garden and a soft stillness seemed to cradle the virtual world that virtual Kai had accepted as home. It was a shame that Kai was too tired to appreciate the sunrise. His eyes were crusted and red from a night-long gaming binge, and his butt was virtually glued to his bean bag. The kid hadn’t intended to pull an all-nighter, but sometimes, he just can’t help getting sucked into the captivating world of his trusty Xbox.

Kai leaned back and stretched out his arms and legs, letting out a teary yawn. It still freaked him out a little thinking about how meta it was to play video games while being a virtual being in a virtual world himself, but he was able to get over it. He kept reminding himself that what made his life different from other video games was that he had free will—he was living a real life with real emotions, just in a world formulated by ones and zeros.

The clock flashed “8:00.” Kai was supposed to meet Mira and Adam at Holy Donuts in a few hours. Kai rose from his seat and scratched his head. He promptly turned and flopped face-first onto his bed, deciding that he could afford at least an hour of sleep before leaving to see his friends.

Before he knew it, Kai was shaken awake by his family butler, Davis. “Sir,” the older, balding man said in a hushed, urgent tone. “You are late for your meeting with your friends, sir.”

After a belligerent mumble from Kai, he threw the blankets off of his bed and jumped to his feet. He picked up his clock and gasped, “Oh, dang it! I really am!” He yanked his cleanest pair of jeans over his boxers and slid on his already-tied loafers. He yelled over his shoulder as he booked it out of his bedroom, “Thanks Davis!”

Kai’s virtual parents hadn’t yet shown themselves, so it had just been him and Davis for the past few months. Kai was curious to know how accurately the code had captured his mother and father, but it was more realistic for them to constantly be away on a some stupid trip anyway. Besides, the longer his parents were away, the less Kai had to worry about sitting through their loud, obstructive, constant fighting. He felt bad for real-world him, who was probably enduring an argument right at this moment.

It took only eight minutes for Kai to get to the donut place on foot, and he was relieved to see that Mira and Adam were still waiting for him on the curb out front. “Hey guys!” he ran up with a grin. “Sorry to keep you waiting, I stayed up all night for a sweet gaming bender.”

Mira rolled her eyes and pressed her fingers against her temples as she stood. “I figured,” she twirled her black hair with her finger. “I could hear my little brother yelling your username into his head set until, like 5:00.”

“It was intense,” Kai insisted. “Miles bailed when it got tough, but I stuck it out until the very end.” He announced this proudly, placing his fists on his hips and jutting his chin out.

“Alright then, king of the video games,” Adam chimed in, standing up next to Mira. “Let’s get you a donut to celebrate your success. It’ll be on me.”

Kai beamed at his buddy and patted him on the shoulder, “You’re a good man. Have I ever told you that you are the best person on Earth.” He grinned at Mira, “No offense.”

“None taken,” Mira chuckled. “I’ll never encourage your gaming addiction, so if that’s what it takes to be the best, then Adam can keep the title.” She walked in ahead of the two boys, shooting a smile over her shoulder.

Kai stepped forward to go inside as well, but he felt Adam catch his arm. Kai looked back at his friend and lifted and eyebrow, “What’s up?”

“I joke with you, but you shouldn’t stay up all night playing games,” Adam crossed his arms over his chest. “I know we’re virtual or whatever, but as far as we’ve seen, stuff ages normally here and people get sick and stuff.”

“And? It won’t hurt me to game,” Kai insisted, his normal goofy smile punctuating his words. His natural silliness and innocence made it very hard for anyone to argue with him.

Adam exhaled, his already intense face somehow hardening up even more, “It could. Just be careful, you idiot.” He turned away and followed Mira inside.

Kai lingered for a moment and shoved his hands into his pockets. Adam was a nice guy, and he always worried about things more than he needed to. Reeve was right when he said that Adam liked to be the hero—especially a hero to his friends. But, there was nothing left to save his friends from here, so he must have been redirecting his hero complex to Kai’s gaming habit. Kai didn’t need to be handled, and he tried to be angry about Adam’s interference. Something about Adam’s concern certainly made Kai’s heart pound, but not in the way he would expect from himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, guys! A few updates on this story!  
> I'm so stoked that people like this! I really started writing it because I couldn't find a Kai/Adam fic that I liked, so I wanted to make one myself. Good to see that other people have similar tastes to mine.   
> I plan on updating this story every Thursday (or every other Thursday, depending on how it goes). "But, Rozavie. Why are you updating on a Saturday, then?" you might be asking. Well, I wanted to get a longer chapter out now while the iron is hot instead of making everyone wait a whole week for them to potentially lose interest.   
> This chapter is longer than the first one and the chapters for the rest of this story should be approximately this length. Although, I can't make any promises because I'm scatter-brained and I might run out of things to focus on in some chapters.   
> In the next chapter, I'm going to start switching perspectives between Adam and Kai. I had this planned all along, but I wanted to establish Kai as the primary main character before doing that.   
> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter and all of the chapters to come!

The arcade was hardly ever crowded on school days, so it was the perfect time for Kai to venture over to beat his high scores on all of his retro faves. Maybe he should have actually been attending school, but he was living in a virtual world now, so there was really no point in wasting his time in classes.

Of course, he was registered at the high school, like all of his friends, but he had been faking it every day so that Davis wouldn’t make him go. The school also didn’t know that his parents weren’t in town, so getting an excused absence was as easy as dialing up the front office, imitating his father’s voice, and saying that he was terribly sick. Honestly, Kai was surprised that it had worked for so long.

Unfortunately, his lie meant that he had to keep the truth from Mira and Adam as well, but it was worth it if it meant he didn’t have to sit through another math class.

Kai whistled softly to himself as he strolled down the sidewalk, hands in his jean pockets. He felt invincible as he rounded a corner, but his pride in his plan disappeared into thin air as he came face-to-face with Mira. Adam was standing behind her, his mouth gaping open in shock.

Kai turned instantly and proceeded to run away in the direction he had come. He had thought he was safe walking around town this late in the morning, but apparently, his friends had decided to walk to school today instead of taking Mira’s moped, like they usually did. Before Kai even got three steps away, Adam grabbed him by the back of his collar.

None of them had their powers from The Hollow anymore, but Adam was still surprisingly strong for his size. He practically picked Kai up off the ground.

“What are you doing Kai?” Mira’s voice was stressed with disbelief. “I thought you were sick.”

“Or are you just sick of school?” Adam frowned as he let go of Kai’s shirt.

Kai brushed the wrinkles out of his clothes and chuckled awkwardly. He cleared his throat, “Well, I was sick, but I’m feeling a lot better today.” He offered a weak, shaky smile that he hoped would cover his lie.

“You’re a terrible liar, dude,” Adam observed matter-of-factly. He narrowed his eyes and took his bag off of his back. He turned to Mira, “You go ahead, I’ll stay with sir no-school and have a talk.” He sat heavily on the curb.

Mira looked between Kai and Adam and let out a soft breath. She didn’t want to leave, torn between scolding Kai for being a liar, and dealing with the much more pressing matter of getting an education. After a breath, Mira nodded and removed her hands from her hips, “I guess I’ll see you guys later then.” She walked off toward the school, leaving her two friends alone.

Adam gestured to Kai, telling him silently to take a seat. Kai reluctantly complied, sliding down, and propping his arms up on his thighs, letting his hands hang between his legs.

“The point of fighting to live here back in The Hollow was to live our lives,” Adam explained, leaning back. He held himself up by placing his hands behind him on the concrete. “You’re wasting that fight on slacking off.”

“I was sick,” Kai attempted again. “I was feeling better so Davis let me go on a walk.”

“You were walking away from the school, Kai.”

Busted.

Kai crossed his arms with a huff, “What does it matter to you? Maybe my life here doesn’t involve me spending hours on end in a classroom.”

“I can’t control your decisions, Kai,” Adam pursed his lips slightly, pulling his mouth into a tight line. “But we miss you, dude. We haven’t hung out in weeks, all because of this elaborate lie.” He stood, pushing himself up with his hands and slung his bag back over his shoulder, “Do whatever you want, I’m tired of babysitting you.”

Kai laid back on the sidewalk, drawing stares from passerby as he did. Adam didn’t have any right to criticize his choices. Skipping school and playing video games made him happy—happier than when Adam was yelling at him, anyway. When Adam was mad at him, it made Kai’s stomach churn—like how he felt whenever he rode in a boat. As much as he wanted to avoid Adam because of this queasy feeling, he also wanted to do something that would make Adam happy. Maybe making Adam feel better would also make this crappy feeling subside?

Kai rolled his eyes at himself. He didn’t care if Adam was happy. He reassured himself that he knew what was best for himself, and he rose to his feet and continued down the sidewalk to the arcade. Even though he told himself he didn’t care, the image of Adam’s disappointed gaze stopped him in his tracks. He shoved his hands back into his pockets and turned around. First, he had to stop by home to grab his stuff and his class schedule, then, he decided, he would go to school. Just to keep Adam off of his back.

Kai eventually found his first period classroom. He was a sophomore now, which meant he had classes in rooms that he had never even seen before. It made it a challenge to figure out his schedule. But, he managed to make it to his English elective only a few minutes late.

It felt strange weaving through the hallway, pushing past kids, and holding his backpack straps in his clenched hands. Every single one of the many faces he passed in the hall were so organic, it made it hard for him to believe that they were all just made of code.

He peaked his head into his classroom. The teacher had already started the lesson for the day, but she stopped for a moment when she noticed Kai lingering in the doorway. She smiled and waved him inside, “You must be Kai, come on in and take a seat. Good to see that you’re feeling well enough to come to school.”

As he looked around the room for a place to sit, he suddenly regretted missing the first three weeks of his sophomore year. His classmates had books on their desks or in their hands that were open halfway through and his teacher was talking about something completely unfamiliar to him. Kai knew in that moment that he would be playing catch-up for the rest of the semester.

Behind him, he heard a voice whisper, “Kai. Over here.”

Kai turned to see Adam sitting at the back of the classroom, waving at him with a pleased smirk. There was an empty seat next to him, so Kai gladly took it.

Adam leaned over and whispered into Kai’s ear, “Good to see you.”

“I feel like an idiot,” Kai hissed back. “I don’t even have the book you guys are reading.”

Adam scooted his desk a bit closer and held out his own book between the two of them, “We can share mine for today.”

Kai looked down at the pages of Adam’s book where he had marked the words up with pencil and highlighter. The margins were filled with notes and doodles. Kai felt his ears go warm and smiled to himself as he placed his backpack by his feet.

After fumbling through the entire class, Kai was more than relieved when the bell finally rang to dismiss them for second period. Adam closed his book and started to pack up his things.

Kai leaned down and started shoving his pencils and worksheets back into his bag as he asked Adam, “Why are you in a sophomore class? Aren’t you a junior?”

“I was out of classes to take for English, so I just chose one that seemed fun,” Adam shrugged.

It seemed like Adam was good at everything. He was athletic, smart, and social. And he was handsome. Kai was more goofy than good-looking and he often wished he could be as stunning as Adam.

Adam rose to his feet and waved goodbye to Kai, “I’ll see you later. You can find me and Mira at Pride Club on Fridays.”

The rest of the morning went smoothly, but come lunch time, it took Kai way too long to find the club room than it probably should have. Kai hadn’t been friends in school with Mira and Adam before—he became friends with them over the summer because they had needed him on their team for The Hollow—so he had never eaten lunch with them before. And he had never attended a Pride Club meeting.

He walked into the room. Nothing much was going on. A handful of kids sat around the classroom, discussing school, family life, and such. A slide was projected onto the board at the front of the room. It read, “Free discussion day.”

Kai quickly located Adam and Mira. They were sitting toward the middle of the classroom in two desks across from each other. He made his way over to them and plopped into the seat in front of Adam, “Hey guys. Sorry it took me so long. I got lost.”

Mira smiled and propped her feet up on the desk, “We figured that’s what happened.”

“I didn’t know you were members of this club,” Kai began to unpack his lunch as he looked around the room.

“I come because of my dads,” Mira explained as she played with her hair. “Our family is big on the whole pride thing.”

“It’s nice to talk about being gay with other people who get it,” Adam crossed his arms on his desk. “But it’s totally cool to attend club meetings as an ally,” he assured Kai.

Kai smiled gratefully and nodded as he sipped his juice pouch, “What do you guys usually do here?”

“Talk about stuff,” Adam placed his hand against his chin and sat up. “Share our experiences mostly. It’s pretty chill. Sometimes we do craft projects. I don’t love that but Mira’s into it.”

“Only crazy people don’t like arts and crafts,” Mira retorted.

“Then I guess you should put me in a padded room,” Adam said.

Kai watched Adam as he talked and felt a pang in his stomach. How could one guy be so effortlessly engaging? It was easy for Kai to talk to Mira, and even Vanessa, even though they broke up a few weeks back. How was it easier to talk to his ex than to talk to his best friend? Kai wasn’t the most well-spoken guy on the planet, but he could usually manage. Sometimes, talking to Adam felt like he was banging his head into a wall and hoping it would let him through. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a bad habit of posting at 3 a.m. my time. Maybe one day I'll post at a sane time! Enjoy!

Kai was aware that coming back to school had ultimately been his own decision, but the end of the day couldn’t come fast enough. During his entire last period, Kai kept stealing glances at the clock as his impatience that had been brewing since the morning finally bubbled to the surface. As soon as the dismissal bell chimed, Kai was out of his seat and on his way, grinning as he thought about kicking back, picking up a new game, and taking it easy. Maybe Davis would even be willing to do some of his homework for him?

As Kai shouldered through the hoard of students, he felt a hand grip his wrist. He turned around to see Adam struggling after him in the sea of people.

Kai quickly pulled over to the side of the hallway with the lightest flow of traffic and waited for Adam to shove through and catch up. One thing Kai did not miss about high school—the halls were a bloodbath.

“Thanks.” Adam broke free from the crowd and ran his hands around his hair, attempting to wrangle some of the strands that had come loose during his battle with the hallway. “Going home?”

Kai nodded. “I’ve got a sweet new game I want to try out.” He beamed, his excitement growing at the thought of all the cool new weapons and items he would unlock in the brand new game world.

Adam lifted his eyebrow, “Don’t you have homework or something?”

“Yeah,” Kai said, shrugging his slouchy shoulders. “But I have all weekend to do it, and Davis can help me out.”

“By ‘help you out,’ do you mean ‘take care of it so I don’t have to?’” Adam held onto his backpack strap with one hand and came to a stop just outside the entrance of the school. “What if I came over and did it with you?” he suggested. “And then, after, maybe we can play your game together? Much better than holing up in your room alone, right?”

Kai didn’t love Adam getting into his business, like he was apt to do, but, enlisting his best buddy to help him with the homework he had fallen behind on didn’t seem like a terrible idea. So, he nodded in agreement and wrapped his arm around Adam’s back, patting him on the shoulder with a smile. “If you insist.”

* * *

Davis welcomed Adam into Kai’s home as he always did, with a stiff bow. Adam knew he would never get used to the level of rich that this family was. Kai wasn’t just rich, he was super rich—stupid rich even. At least the guy’s bedroom was like a normal kid’s (if you ignored the sprawling garden of topiary and expensive flowers visible from the window).

Kai pulled a bean bag out of his closet and dragged it across the room, placing it next to the one that was already slouched in front of the TV. “Take a seat,” Kai said as flopped down into his seat and stretched out, releasing a relaxed sigh.

“You should do homework at your desk,” Adam said as he sat as well. He put one leg out and propped his arm up on his knee.

Sitting so close to the floor was always a bit awkward for Adam. He was tall, and his legs were long so there was really no comfortable way to sit in a bean bag. “There is no chance this is good for your back,” he observed. If Kai sat like this all the time, hunched over, practically on the floor, then it would explain his crap posture.

Kai turned away to unzip his bag, waving his hand dismissively over his shoulder. “You seriously need to stop worrying about me all the time.”

“You make it way too easy,” Adam mumbled under his breath.

“I’m just living. You don’t have to micromanage everything,” Kai grunted as he fished through his disorganized belongings. He huffed, his frustration getting the best of him, “It’s no wonder Reeve got tired of you.”

“You want to say that again?” Adam crossed his arms over his chest and clenched his jaw. He wouldn’t have expected Kai to dish such a low blow. 

“You heard me.” Kai swallowed, keeping his gaze trained on Adam’s shoes. “You’ve been on me about my video games, my homework, and now even _where_ I do my homework.” He ran his palms over his jeans. “It’s suffocating!”

Adam’s chest tightened as he poised himself to argue. Then, he remembered what his constant bickering had done to him and Reeve, and how those hurt feelings had made things a whole lot harder for everyone around them, especially Mira. He didn’t want to accidentally tear another friend group apart with his “hero-complex.” He cared too much about Mira—and, of course, about Kai—to do that again.

He bit his lip slightly and swallowed his anger as he muttered, “You’re right.”

Kai paused for a moment and then said, “I am?” He knit his eyebrows together and finally shifted his gaze to look up at Adam. 

“Yeah,” Adam ran a hand through his hair. “But you didn’t have to bring the thing with Reeve into this. He and I are cool now.” Both of he and Reeve had been trying to put that conflict behind them, and Kai bringing it up again was a painful reminder that his actions would always be hanging over his head. It was worse than rubbing salt in the wound—more like cutting the scar open with a dull knife and pouring a gallon of vinegar into the gash.

Kai lifted his hand and chewed his thumbnail. His shifting eyes gave away his guilt. “Don’t get me wrong, you were right to make me go back to school,” Kai said, a goofy, reassuring grin forming on his face. “I was being an idiot. But please, try to lay off everything else.”

Adam nodded. “I’ll try.”

* * *

Kai shot up in bed, gasping for air. His eyes darted around his pitch-black room and he clutched his throbbing chest. He had just jolted out of one heck of a nightmare—the usual one where, instead of Gustav helping him and his friends to escape The Hollow, they failed, and Kai had to watch all of his buddies turn to pixels before his eyes. In the dream, Adam was always the last to go besides himself, and Kai had just started to watch him disappear when he had woken up.

Nightmares were not a common occurrence for Kai, but when he did have them, they were bad. He used to have nightmares about his parents fighting, but now he had nightmares about almost dying. Kai figured that it was just a part of growing up.

He climbed out of bed and stood, bleary-eyed in the middle of his room. He stretched as he made his way into the hall and down the corridor to the kitchen. His mouth was horribly dry, and his tongue tasted like dust, so he grabbed a glass, filled it with water from the fridge, and sat at the kitchen table. He gulped his drink down in a matter of seconds and rubbed his face with both hands. When he opened his eyes again, he jumped out of his chair in surprise, knocking it over, and let out a pathetic yelp. In a blink of an eye, Adam was suddenly sitting across from him. How had he gotten past the security system?

Kai cleared his throat and straightened his chair. He sat back down, chuckling awkwardly, “What are you doing here?”

Adam didn’t say anything. Instead, he stood and walked around the table, stopping in front of Kai, who looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. “Is something wrong?”

Still no response. Adam leaned on the table and placed his hand on Kai’s cheek as he did. Before Kai could ask anything else, Adam leaned in and brushed his lips against his gently. And as Kai’s eyes widened, he did something even more surprised—he kissed back.

Almost as soon as it had begun, Kai woke up again with a start. This time, his violent awakening threw him from bed and onto the floor. It was morning now and his alarm was blaring from across the room. He stared at the ceiling, processing his dream within a dream, and he touched a finger to his mouth as his face flushed red.


	4. Chapter 4

It didn’t take long for Mira to notice a change in Kai’s behavior. It was hard not to, what with all three her, Adam, and Kai eating lunch with each other every day, and studying together on the weekends and after school.

Kai was exhibiting the sure-fire signs of a crush—awkward laughter, red cheeks, restrictive body language. All of it. And the worst thing was that Mira was quite sure that his crush was directed toward her. He had even begun to avoid her in the hallways. He would notice her and Adam in the hall, blush furiously, and then proceed to run away. They had barely seen the guy at all for two weeks.

It would make a lot of sense. Kai had mentioned before, when all the crazy stuff with The Hollow was still going on, that he briefly had a thing for Mira before he met Vanessa. And now, Kai and Vanessa were broken up, making it entirely possible that Kai’s feelings for Mira had come back.

Naturally, she called upon Adam for help.

She paced in front of her best friend, walking back and forth and back and forth between her desk and her bed. Adam sat in Mira’s desk chair, watching her with eyebrows raised.

“Are you going to tell me why you called me here in a panic,” he began. “Or am I just supposed to watch you have a meltdown?”

“I think Kai has a crush on me!” Mira finally let it out. “He kinda had one on me before, I know that. But I thought we were past it.” She sighed and sat heavily on her bed, combing her fingers through her hair. Her hand got caught in a tangle and she fought with it as she spoke, “I’m hoping that it’s just my imagination.”

“It probably is,” Adam reassured her as he stood and then repositioned himself next to Mira on the bed.

“He’s all… I don’t know. Distant?” she crossed her arms and shrugged. “All I know is that I’m getting a… I don’t know… A vibe?”

“Do you have any evidence to support your accusation?” Adam offered her a small smile, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

Although Mira didn’t want Adam to turn this situation into a joke, he did manage to trigger a tiny laugh. She rested her head on his shoulder, “Unfortunately, your honor, I do not. But, I can tell that something is going on with him.”

“I’ll talk to Kai,” Adam squeezed Mira’s shoulder. “But I really don’t think you have to worry.”

“I hope not,” Mira shifted and crossed her legs. “Kai’s a good friend. I just don’t want things to be weird.”

* * *

This was so weird. Kai had dreamt about kissing Adam. And even worse, he was pretty sure he had liked it? Kai felt bad for his dream, not because he dreamt about kissing a boy, but rather because he felt like it was some kind of insult to Adam and his friendship. It didn’t take long for his guilt to seep into the real world.

His shame inevitably lead to him bailing on plans with Adam and Mira, and he eventually started ignoring their texts and avoiding them at school all together.

It made it worse that the dream wasn’t an isolated incident. About twice a week, Kai found himself stuck in a dream about Adam. Once, he dreamt about holding Adam’s hand. And another dream saw the two playing video games together, legs intertwined on the floor. When Kai started waking up from those dreams with a smile on his face, that is when he began to distance himself. And with each dream, he felt the need to put more and more space between him and the source of his confusion.

He even asked Vanessa if she wanted to get back together. That way, maybe, he could redirect his confused feelings to a person who wasn’t his best friend. Of course, Vanessa was not interested. She liked him better as a friend, she said. Kai thought about telling her what was going anyway, but at the last moment, right before he was about to send his text, he decided it would be better to keep this whole situation to himself.

It was hard to ignore Adam when they had a class together. But Kai managed by moving to a different seat across the room. However, one day Adam made it entirely impossible for Kai to avoid him. Just as the bell rang, Adam rushed Kai, practically sprinting across the room. He leaned over Kai’s seat and placed one hand on the desk, and the other on the chair, effectively trapping Kai where he sat.

Kai turned away to hide the crimson in his cheeks. If Adam kept standing that close, he was going to suffer cardiac arrest. “What are you doing?” Kai managed to ask, squirming in his seat, and pulling his arms into his chest.

Adam responded, frowning, eyebrows lowered, “I need to talk to you about something. Stop swerving me and meet me at the football field after school.” He removed his arms and slung his backpack over his shoulders before leaving as quickly as he had come.

This wasn’t weird, Kai told himself as he placed his hand on his chest to steady his breathing. His buddy just wanted to talk to him. That’s all they were—friends. And that’s all they ever would be. No kissing. No cuddling. No hand-holding. That was the way it was supposed to be, and that was exactly how Kai liked it. 

* * *

Kai was probably just going to bail on him again, Adam thought as he checked the time on his phone solemnly. Thirty minutes had passed since the dismissal bell and Kai was nowhere to be seen. Adam was trying to act like Kai avoiding him didn’t bother him, but it certainly did. He kept reminding himself not to take it personally, that he was also cutting Mira out, but it hurt a lot more than he wanted it to.

Adam lay out on the metal bleachers. They were cool to the touch in the pleasantly chilly autumn afternoon. If he was going to wait outside for his friend to get it together, then at least he could bask in the sun and crisp air.

As he reclined there, he began to drift off into a shallow sleep, and the beginning of a brief dream played behind his closed eyes. Kai was there, approaching him in the hallway with that goofy smile of his, just like how it was before Kai decided to ditch him. But instead of his normal congenial wave, Kai gave Adam a peck on the cheek.

Adam woke himself up and threw his eyes open, He stared at the clear sky for a moment before sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck. He chose not to acknowledge what had just happened.

He turned around to grab his bag to leave, but stopped as he saw Kai walking up the steps of the bleachers toward him. Adam smiled and did his best to shove his short, fluke of a fantasy back into the recesses of his mind. He scooted over so that Kai could slide onto the bleachers next to him. Kai sat one level below Adam instead.

“What did you want to talk about?” Kai looked up at Adam.

Adam cleared his throat and got to the point, “Mira’s worried that there’s something going on with you.” His smile faded and he took on a concerned tone as he explained, “She thought that maybe you were crushing on her again-“

“I’m not,” Kai cut him off halfway. “Can I go home?”

Adam shifted from concern to frustration in a split second. He tried to keep on a kind face, but he was fed up with being cut out, and now, of being cut off. “We know something is up with you,” Adam’s voice got stern. He wasn’t quite yelling, but he wasn’t being gentle anymore, “Tell me, or don’t. I don’t care. But don’t take it out on us.” Adam took a moment to breathe before continuing, composing himself and drawing his voice back down to a softer quality, “Don’t… ignore me.” He had meant to say “us,” as in both him and Mira, but he couldn’t deny that it felt like Kai’s cold-shoulder was being explicitly directed toward him.

After a few moments, Kai stood and sat back down next to Adam. He looked over, his face was slack and painted with regret. “I’m fine,” he said as he tried to smile, but something stopped him from holding genuine eye contact. He placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder, more hesitant in his touch than was typical for him. Even though it was a faltering gesture, Kai’s hand was like lightning, and it shocked Adam’s heart into overdrive.

Adam ignored how loud his blood was pounding in his ears. “Could you tell me what’s been bothering you?” He tilted his head and felt a strange pang of sadness as Kai removed his hand from his shoulder.

“It’s really not a big deal,” Kai said. “I guess I’m just confused right now.”

“About what?”

Kai glanced over and he gave Adam a quick once-over before his eyes darted away and he shook his head. Kai didn’t say a single word, but in that moment, Adam didn’t need him to. Any idiot could figure out that whatever was bothering him, he really didn’t want to talk about. And if he couldn’t tell Adam, then it must be something worth keeping secret. So instead of saying anything that could potentially make their conversation even more uncomfortable, Adam nodded. “You don’t have to tell me anything,” Adam said. “I respect that.”

Kai smiled. “Much appreciated.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one sort of end abruptly because I had a hard time finding a good stopping point. See you next week.


	5. Chapter 5

It was just past noon when Adam was finally able to make it over to Kai’s house. Kai had texted him and Mira asking them to come over so he could tell them something at around 10:00, but Adam’s mother had tasked him with vacuuming the stairs and taking Puddles on a walk before he could go. It had taken him longer to finish than he had anticipated.

Mira wasn’t able to make it—something about a family day out—so it was going to just be Adam and Kai, alone. Adam told himself that being alone with Kai wasn’t going to be weird at all, but the pit in his stomach and his racing heart both betrayed him. 

He had done his best to brush off the daydream that he had had on the bleachers, but since then, he had, on more than one occasion, caught himself dreamily thinking about Kai in ways a dude doesn’t typically think about his best guy friend. At first, Adam only thought about stuff like hand holding, or hugging, and that was easy enough to ignore. But lately, instead of the dreams going away as he had hoped, they had intensified instead. Now, he was regularly imagining what Kai’s lips would feel like against his. And he did not find it nearly as revolting as he wanted to. Oh yes, Adam had a crush, and he intended to keep it tucked away.

Davis guided him down the hall and to Kai’s room. Adam sucked in a deep breath before entering.

Kai was hunched over in his desk chair. He spun around and smiled, a hint of nervousness quivering at the edge of his lips. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Adam nodded as he leaned with his shoulder against the wall next to Kai’s desk. He wasn’t comfortable on a beanbag, but he was even more uncomfortable sitting on Kai’s bed, for obvious reasons. So, Adam decided it was better just to stay standing. “You wanted to tell me something?”

“Yeah.” Kai rubbed his neck. “It’s too bad that Mira couldn’t be here but I’ll text her later.” He cleared his throat and said, “I think I’m bisexual.”

Adam hadn’t expected that, but once he registered what Kai had said, he was suddenly very glad he had been able to make it over. Adam, of all people, knew how important it was to have friends who support these kinds of revelations, and he was flattered that Kai trusted him. He offered a smile. “Thanks for telling me. That’s exciting.” Also, he figured that this must have been what was bothering Kai. Questioning your sexuality is terrifying, and it would make sense that it would make him act a bit different.

Kai shrugged and chuckled. “And awkward to say out loud. But thanks.”

The two decided to hang out for the rest of the afternoon. Adam had already made his way there, so it didn’t make sense for him to just head home. So, they settled in to play some video games, like they always ended up doing.

Before Adam realized, hours had passed, and the sun had been engulfed in twilight.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he paused the game to fish it out. It was a text from his mom.

Kai looked over. “What’s up?”

Adam took a minute to read the text and then placed his on his forehead, in dismay. “My parents have this overnight trip with their friends tonight,” Adam explained. “I forgot.”

“So?”

“So, they just left. And I just realized that I forgot my house keys.” He groaned and leaned his head back.

Kai bared his teeth in a mild cringe. “Can they come back and leave the door unlocked for you?”

Adam sighed and sunk deeper into the desk chair that Kai had let him sit in. “I wouldn’t want them to have to turn around,” he exhaled softly. “I can just try to get in through my window.”

“Why don’t you just spend the night here?” Kai asked casually.

And Adam’s breath caught in his throat.

* * *

Why did Kai ask Adam to sleep over? Why did Adam have to say yes? Kai dug through his closet for a sleeping bag as his mind raced. His hands were numb and he had to keep taking deep, therapeutic breaths through his nose. He found his old sleeping bag from when he was a kid and used to camp out in the backyard with Davis.

Kai rolled out the sleeping bag, and grabbed a pillow from his bed. “The bag might be too small for you,” Kai said. “So if it’s uncomfortable, we can switch places if you want.”

“Thanks.” Adam stood. “I think I’ll be fine. I couldn’t take your bed.” He sat cross legged on the sleeping bag and leaned back, his back against the side of Kai’s bed. He was still wearing his jeans. All of Kai’s pajama pants would have been way too short for him, so Adam had decided that he was fine just sleeping in his clothes.

Kai hesitated before clearing his throat and announcing, “Do you want to see something cool?”

Adam cocked his eyebrow and propped his elbow up on Kai’s mattress. “What is it?”

“I’ll show you.” Kai smiled, something playful in his face, and beckoned to Adam, opening his bedroom door. 

Kai guided Adam through his house and to his father’s study.

“Pretentious,” Adam teased. “I like it.”

“It’s my dad’s.” Kai sportively pushed Adam from behind and toward a glass door that opened up to some sort of balcony. “He’s the king of pretentious. What I want to show you is outside.”

They came out of the house and into the breezy nighttime air. Autumn had sunk in and the wind gently whipped the orange trees and carried the moon-lit clouds at a break-neck speed.

“Oh I almost forgot.” Kai ran back in briefly to shut off the lights from the study. The stars seemed to brighten even more. The moon hid behind a cloud, plunging them into darkness. Then, Kai walked to the shadowy corner of the balcony and dragged a telescope from the blackness. He placed it in front of Adam. “Here.” He grinned as he caught his breath from the heavy lifting. “I’m not supposed to be here. But I sneak over here sometimes when Davis is asleep and my parents are away.”

Adam glanced at Kai, the whites of his eyes just barely visible in the night. He stooped down and placed his eye against the eyepiece. He inhaled sharply. “I’ve never looked through a telescope,” he chuckled, excitement and fascination highlighting his voice. “It’s amazing.”

Kai leaned backwards against the railing of the balcony, propping his elbows up on the railing, and watched Adam thoughtfully. “It really is.”

“How do I make it clearer?” Adam asked eagerly, moving to look up at Kai.

“Like this.” Kai moved in, shouldering Adam gently out of the way. He bent down to looked through the telescope and turned the focusing knob until the stars looked as clear as if they were right there in the garden below. Kai looked over at Adam just as the moon came into view, lighting up the area. Adam was still bending down next to Kai, as if poised to look through the telescope again. But, instead of moving to observe the stars, Adam was frozen, his gaze focused on Kai.

Kai felt his face flush red and he suddenly wished that another cloud would hide the moon so that Adam wouldn’t notice how horribly he was blushing. He knew it was getting harder to hide his feelings, but he wanted so badly to keep things normal. Kai straightened his back and leaned forward on the balcony, crossing his arms on the banister.

Adam moved next to him and positioned himself in the same way.

Their elbows were touching. Then their shoulders. Then, Kai turned his head. And then kissed him. It was nothing like any of his dreams—it was a painfully awkward peck that ended as quickly as it had begun—but somehow, it was even better than he had imagined. 

Adam didn’t move away, and their closes called Kai to do it again. But, before he could get into motion, he moved away from the balcony and cleared his throat. He turned on the lights inside of the study, wincing at the sudden flood of brightness. “We should get some sleep.”

Why was he running away? Kai didn’t know anymore. Before, he was ready to deny all of his feelings until he could move on. But now that his long-awaited kiss had actually happened, Kai thought that maybe running away was the wrong thing to do. Hiding from his feelings for the past few weeks hadn’t felt like a mistake, but now it felt like the dumbest decision of his young life.

“Wait, dude.” Adam gently grabbed Kai’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. That was stupid.” He took his hand away and glanced off to the side, sliding his thumbs into his pockets.

Kai steadied his breathing and solidified his resolve. “You don’t have to apologize.” And then he said what had been eating at him for so long, “Because I like you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this isn't my strongest chapter but things are finally getting moving with this couple! It is not as slow burn as I originally had planned, but I originally planned to put these scenes in the second chapter, so I held off as long as I could!   
> See you next week for chapter 6!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously almost forgot to post my chapter today! It was prewritten, I just almost totally forgot! Here it is, guys! Enjoy!

Kai liked him? Looking back it had been pretty obvious, but either way, Adam was still speechless. He stared, stunned and stupid at his friend as he let the confession slowly sink in.

Did Adam like him back? The blush in his cheeks and the tinge in his stomach told him the painfully obvious answer to his question. Yet, here he was, mouth agape, staring dumbly into the eyes of a boy whom he had just kissed under the night sky. And he couldn’t say anything!

“It’s alright,” Kai assured him, a wide, yet noticeably faltering smile stretching his cheeks. “I didn’t expect you to say anything. Let’s just sleep, okay?”

Instead of stopping him or, heck, kissing him again, Adam simply nodded and trailed behind Kai to his bedroom. Although he was tired, and although it was late, Adam knew he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight.

Adam left a note for Kai in the early hours of the morning. The sun had just barely peaked out from behind the trees, but he had to talk to Mira as soon as humanly possible. He scribbled out his message on a sticky note—Got to get home. Talk to you later. Last night convo not done.—and stuck it onto Kai’s pillow before sweeping up his backpack and leaving the mansion. He waved goodbye to Davis, and as soon as he was off the property, he made a mad dash toward Mira’s place.

He knocked impatiently on the front door, arms folded over his chest. Mira’s family was always up early on weekends—they liked doing morning yoga together on their days off—so it wasn’t long before one of her dads opened the door.

“I need to talk to Mira, sorry for barging in,” Adam said quickly. Without waiting for an answer, he ducked under the confused man’s arm and took the steps upstairs two at a time. Mira’s door was wide open, so he breezed in and shut it behind him.

“Um, knock much?” Mira was staring at Adam, bewildered surprise painted on her face. She had her head halfway through the head hole of a clean T-shirt. “What are you doing here? It’s, like, 8:00. You’re never up this early-”

“Did Kai tell you his big news?” Adam cut her off.

“Yeah. He texted me. Is that what this is about-“

“Remember how you thought Kai had a crush on you?”

“Mhm.” She nodded, picking up a brush from her bedside table and running it through her hair. “As I recall he said he didn’t-”

“That’s because he’s had a crush on me,” Adam practically whispered, still not fully believing that it was true. “And he kissed me last night.”

Mira dropped her brush mid-stroke and blinked rapidly a few times before opening her mouth. Instead of words, a strangled noise of surprise exited instead. After a moment of wide-eyed gaping, she managed to stammer out, “Well… Well did you tell him you’re not into him?”

Adam clenched his jaw and shrugged. “I didn’t really say anything.” He wanted to confide in Mira—to tell her that the way he felt about Kai made his head spin and his heart hurt. But he could hardly comprehend his feelings internally. His crush had come on so fast, and had hit him so hard, that he had been completely blindsided. He simply couldn’t say it yet. So instead, he said, “I’ll figure it out.” It was a pacifying statement, meant to buy himself some time to sort through his thoughts. And it was ambiguous. He didn’t want to lie and say he wasn’t into Kai, but he still wasn’t prepared to tell the whole truth.

And anyway, Adam at least wanted to tell Kai how he felt before telling Mira. Adam worried that she would manage to panic-talk him out of it, so he knew it would be better just to work it out himself. This wasn’t going to be hard at all. It was a matter of three little words—“I like you.” But saying those words consecutively in this context was like trying to lay an egg.

Over the next few days, Adam couldn’t even utter the confession to himself in the mirror without freezing. He wasn’t usually a flustered sort of guy, but this crush was seriously cramping his style. It was awkward to be around Kai, that should go without saying, but he also didn’t want to give off the impression that Kai kissing him had messed anything up between them. That was seriously counterproductive, and quite frankly, Adam was tired of sending the wrong messages to his friends. So, he gritted his teeth and bore through his jitters as best he could.

Class with Kai wasn’t terrible. They didn’t talk much during it, but sitting next to him made Adam’s stomach perform constant tumble routines throughout the entire period. But lunch time was the absolute worst. It was forty-five straight minutes of one-on-one between Adam and Kai. Of course Mira was there too, but she was often occupied with homework or some other distracting activity, which left Adam and Kai virtually alone.

Today was even worse. It was Adam’s worst nightmare, at least as of late, come to life. Mira wasn’t here. And the only conversation the two could manage to scrounge up was pathetic—and that was being generous. The courtyard that they always dined in had never been so quite.

Adam could tell that Kai was trying the best he could to keep things lively, and he was also acutely aware that it was his own, unintentionally, sour attitude that was driving the big, awkward wedge into their usually congenial conversations. And, after Kai’s fifth observation about the weather, Adam couldn’t stand his own frustrating emotions anymore.

“Kai, I really want to talk about what happened last week.” Adam turned, his eyebrows lowered and pressed together in a frown.

“I told you it was okay.” Kai turned his head to look at Adam.

“But it’s not okay.” Adam shook his head and put his sandwich down before placing a hand on Kai’s upper arm. “I should have said something.”

“It’s fine-“

“I like you too Kai,” Adam cut in, taking himself by surprise. “I like you a lot.”

* * *

Kai’s mouth hung open like it had a broken hinge. He had expected to be kindly denied, Adam’s friendly eyes and soft frown letting him down gently. But, instead his heart nearly exploded.

“I like you too.” Had Adam really just said that to him? There was no way.

“I think I misheard you.” Kai dug his pinkie into his ear to clean away any of the gunk that was obviously making him hallucinate. “You mean you like me as a friend, right?”

Adam squeezed Kai’s arm firmly and lowered his eyebrows. His eyes glanced down and away quickly before darting back again to reestablish eye contact. “No. I mean I’m into.”

Kai’s succeeding silence seemed to prompt Adam to fill the air with words. “I should have said something back there. I was surprised. But I did like the kiss, and I would have kissed you back if I had just said something, but I was being a bigger chicken than Mabel. I’m really sorry, dude.”

A half smile materialized on one side of Kai’s face, and he pulled his hand up to rest his knuckled against his mouth, supporting his elbow with his other hand. “Do you want to…” He shrugged and leaned back on his palms. “Try again?”

“To try the kiss again?

Kai nodded.

Adam straightened again and swung one leg over the bench so that he was sitting sideways, facing Kai head-on. He took in a deep breath before leaning forward and putting their lips together.

It was still awkward, and Kai didn’t quite know what to do with his hands. But the imperfection of this moment was perfect for Kai.


	7. Chapter 7

For the first time in what felt like forever, Kai felt entirely normal around Adam. Well, not normal, considering they had kissed twice, but instead of sitting in heavy, uncomfortable silence, the two were able to hold a conversation again.

Still, even after their confessions, Kai wasn’t sure where he and Adam stood. He told himself that if nothing ever came of the second kiss that he would be perfectly okay with that. But he knew that was a lie. Kai wanted to be able to call Adam his boyfriend, but at the same time, he didn’t want to change anything by jumping into a relationship.

Kai liked Adam for the way he was now—casual and comfortable. They were bros, and Kai quite liked that dynamic. If Adam or, even worse Kai himself, started acting differently because of their relationship, he knew that it wouldn’t last between them.

So instead of enduring the potentially uncomfortable conversation about their relationship, Kai decided to ignore it—because that always made him feel fantastic. 

On this day, Kai didn’t see Adam in the halls as he left school. When they both had time, he looked forward to walking with Adam, so he was mildly disappointed to be walking home on his own. But, before he even stepped into the parking lot, Adam called to him from behind.

Adam was running at Kai, ducking through and around the hordes of students rushing out to catch their buses or rides. He was certainly in one heck of a hurry to catch up, so Kai did the decent thing and stepped out of the crowd. He sat on a bench directly to one side of the stream of traffic and side-smiled as he watched Adam apologize his way over. 

“Thanks for waiting up.” Adam stopped in front of him and put the weight of his palms against his knees as he regained his composure. “Do you want to go on a date with me?”

* * *

Adam tugged his jacket around his torso as he shivered against the cold, wet air. He had told Kai to meet him here in front of his house so that they could walk to their destination. Adam’s house wasn’t a particularly exciting date location, so he had picked out a place he thought Kai might appreciate.

It felt like one of his dreams, going on a date with Kai. And Adam still couldn’t fully believe that he had said yes. Even though it had been established that Kai liked him, and that Adam liked him back, it all seemed too good to be true. He couldn’t stop worrying if, perhaps, this was the product of the coding in their virtual world screwing with his life again, and that none of this was actually happening.

The sky was beginning to turn shades of orange and purple by the time Kai walked up.

Adam straightened and smiled, removing his weight from the fence that he was leaning on.

“Where are we going, exactly?” Kai rubbed his mitten-clad hands together. His largish nose was flushed red from the cold, as were his cheeks. He was visibly shivering, apparently much more sensitive to the cold than Adam. By the way he was bundled up, you would think he was in the middle of a blizzard.

“My old tree house,” Adam said. “It’s just in the woods over there.” He pointed to the patch of trees behind his house. The flood lights stopped just short of the trees, plunging the interior of the small forest in inky black. He offered his hand to Kai, hoping to offer just a bit of warmth. 

Kai gazed out at the dark trees, eyes wide with uncertainty, and a hint of fear. Adam knew it was rude to think so, but Kai was a bit of a wimp sometimes. He always got scared by the smallest things and he always made certain that everyone around him knew how uncomfortable he was. But somehow, Kai was still the bravest person that Adam had ever met. He was scared all the time, but he still came through, no matter what. That was something that Adam liked. A lot.

Adam’s hand lingered, untouched in the air for a few moments while Kai was too busy being frightened of the dark to notice the gesture. So, Adam did the honors and pressed his palm firmly to Kai’s.

Kai’s hand twitched, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he returned it with a small squeeze. They had held hands once or twice before during tense situations back in The Hollow, but this was different, and it sent an electric shock up Adam’s arm, stopping at his chest.

“I’ve wanted to take you there anyway.” He began walking around the side of his house. “Me and Mira used to hang out there as kids. Considering you’re a part of our team now, I thought it would be nice to share it with you.” He smirked slightly as they entered the shade of the woods. “Don’t be scared.”

“I’m not scared,” Kai rebuked proudly, letting go of Adam’s hand. An owl hooted from above, and Kai let out a gasp, his hand returning to Adam’s as quickly as he had pulled it away.

Adam took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. He was trying to hold back a laugh at Kai for being so jumpy, but his quivering smile and raised eyebrows gave him away.

“You’re a jerk.” Kai shoved Adam, but kept his hand held fast. 

The tree house was exactly how Adam remembered it—just a little bit older and more run-down. He had spent most of the afternoon sprucing up the inside and hooking an extension cord up from his house to make it more comfortable. While sharing his childhood hangout was sweet, there hadn’t been much inside besides a few old toys and coloring books. Definitely not a place any sane teenager would want to spend time in—even if Kai was a year younger than him.

Adam let Kai climb up first and followed him close behind. Kai stopped just at the top of the ladder and whistled. “This place is awesome.” The ceiling was just shy of being tall enough for him to stand, so he stayed hunched over in the center of the room. Adam had to stay on his hands and knees. 

Although on the small side, the tree house was, without a shadow of a doubt, “awesome.” Adam had set up some Christmas lights to illuminate the interior, and even put in his family’s old TV and classic gaming system for a bit of entertainment. A soft rug and an assortment of pillows covered most of the splintered floor, and a bookshelf of comic books and movies sat in the corner.

It was still cold—his mother had to remind him that space heaters and unlacquered wooden structures don’t mix—but the old comforter he had found in the garage would help with that.

Adam sat on the floor, propping his back up against the wall. It was just big enough for the both of them to sit comfortably, as long as they sat against the wall perpendicular from the other. As such, if Kai were to try extend his legs all the way, he would have had to prop them up on Adam’s to stretch out. Kai sat with his legs crossed and Adam threw the blanket over the both of them.

“Told you there was nothing to be afraid of,” Adam said. He reached over and held Kai’s shoulder firmly. “You made it through the woods at night.” His tone sounded more patronizing than he had intended.

Kai rolled his eyes and plucked Adam’s hand up, transplanting it from his shoulder back down to the floor. “Any normal person would be scared.”

“Maybe,” Adam mused. “But you’re out here with me.”

“So?”

“So, I’ll protect you.”

“Is this your hero complex coming back?” Kai asked. It was mostly teasing, but the question held a hint of honest frustration.

Adam laughed at that and rolled his eyes, backing off as he sensed Kai souring. “Dude, I’m just saying that no one and nothing would want to take us on together.”

“Well I appreciate that, but I’m pretty strong by myself already.”

Even though Adam had attempted to bring the conversation back to a positive, it was clear that Kai had still found offense in his words. He could be terribly stubborn and hard-headed sometimes and it rubbed Adam the wrong way.

“Oh totally,” Adam scoffed, allowing a shred of nastiness to tint his words. “Remind me… Back in The Hollow, who scrambled into my arms when the ice monster went berserk?” He leaned forward. “And who did I find curled into a ball in the middle of the floor when a cannibalistic minotaur was about to chow down?”

Kai crossed his arms. “Well, if you had such an issue with helping me out, why didn’t you just leave me?” He pulled off his mittens and threw them at Adam. “And need I remind you that I saved myself and Benjamini from a burning carnival ride during the same game?”

Why was he picking a fight with Kai? Adam hadn’t meant to, but somehow, he always came back around to starting fights with the people he liked. Maybe it was some sort of crappy defense mechanism—he had done the same thing to Reeve, after all, and it was likely one of the major reasons they ended up growing apart. Adam couldn’t stand being misunderstood and questioned, and it was something he was working on. He didn’t want to let his petty emotions get the best of him.

He took a deep breath and steadied himself, controlling his frustration, and choosing his words carefully. Adam tossed the mittens back, letting out a gentle sigh. “You’re strong. I admire that about you. It’s okay to be scared. Just know that when you are, I’ll always be here—hero complex or not.” He offered Kai a sincere look and smiled. “It’s cheesy, but bravery isn’t running into situations like a moron—like me. Bravery is running into stuff, even when you’re scared. And that’s you.

After a painfully long moment of silence, Kai unfolded his legs and tapped his foot against Adam’s. He offered a lopsided smile. “You’re a good friend.” It sounded like a reminder. For him or for Kai, Adam didn’t know, but it was reassuring all the same.

“Maybe I would be an even better boyfriend?” That word felt so strange. “Boyfriend.” Adam hadn’t been somebody’s boyfriend in a long time, but if he had to choose, he would want to be Kai’s. Although his inquiry was foreign on his lips, and although it stole his breath as he uttered it, it felt good to broach the question.

Kai rubbed the back of his head, ruffling up his hair. He didn’t say anything right away, but scooted around so that he was directly next to Adam.

It was cramped sitting on the same wall. Adam’s shoulder was pressed into the bookcase, and Kai was squished into the other wall, but neither of them complained. Adam could feel Kai’s shoulders rise and fall with his breath, and their combined warmth seemed to thaw the nipping night air.

“Sure.” Kai leaned his head back to rest on the splintered wall as he held Adam’s hand loosely. “I think you _will_ be a great one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I am currently in a bit of a writer's block (it happens to the best of us). And as a result, this is my last prewirtten chapter of "Spiraliing." It is NOT the last chapter though, so do not worry about that! I'm going to take a bit of a hiatus to work on other projects and jog my creativity again. As a result, I will not be posting a chapter next week!   
> I'll see you in July!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back at it again! Thanks you guys for hanging on this last week while I battled my writers block and got some important life stuff taken care of! Unfortunately, my block is still here, so this chapter is significantly shorter than all my other ones. I’m sorry about that, but I cranked out what I could so that I could keep my promise to you guys.   
> (One quick note about this chapter. I discuss college here, as well as traveling for said college. I do not feel like explaining this within the story, so I will use this convenient notes feature to explain! In this canon, the virtual world extends beyond the town and encompasses the world. I don’t have a scientific explanation to explain how this is possible, so I am relying on suspension of disbelief really heavily! I want them to discuss college, so they’re discussing college. That’s all there is to it!)  
> With all that taken care of, I will work super hard to get a longer chapter out to you next week, but don’t be surprised if I end up skipping another week! See you (hopefully) next week with a longer chapter!

The hard part was over, Adam assured himself as he brushed his teeth and blow dried his hair simultaneously. And the even harder part was just beginning.

The lovebirds agreed a week ago to come clean about their relationship to Mira, but so far neither of them had had the courage to bring it up.

Adam hunched over, putting the weight of his hands on the back corners of the bathroom sink. He peered into the mirror, disappointed at the anxiety hiding behind his eyes. The last time Adam dated within the friend group, things didn’t quite go according to plan. And Mira was the one who bore the brunt of the jaded emotions and awkwardness that ensued. But there was no way Mira would still be harboring any bad feelings about Adam’s relationship with Reeve. Right? Adam was being silly. Right? Mira would be fine. Right?

After his lackluster excuse for a pep talk, Adam finished his morning routine, threw on his backpack, and stepped out into the wet, cold morning. His breath hung in the air as he buried his nose into his scarf.

Mira’s moped materialized at the end of the block, and Adam gave himself one last piece of internal encouragement. “Truth is the right thing, no matter how she reacts.” And then Mira pulled up in front of him.

“Hey, Adam!” She greeted him cheerfully, her nose flushed red from driving against the mid-autumn wind. “Sorry I’m a little late.”

“It’s no problem.” Adam smiled down at her before hopping onto the back of the moped. “Just punch it!”

Mira revved the engine and peeled away from the curb, pulling back onto the road. Adam’s favorite part of riding to school with Mira was being able to watch the town go by in a blur.

This was where Adam grew up, and he couldn’t help but feel a little melancholy as he rode through the streets. Adam was a junior now, meaning that he had less than two years before he would embark on one of the biggest adventures of his life—college. He tried not to think about it, to stay in the here and now, but Adam couldn’t stop his mind from wandering.

While his brain strolled, thinking about the future, he was reminded of the pressing need to admit that he and Kai were dating. He couldn’t keep this secret forever, and he knew the longer he waited, the harder it would be to hide. And, potentially, the angrier Mira would be when she found out.

The moped came to a halt at a red light and the roaring wind quieted, leaving Adam and Mira in silence. Adam’s chest was heavy with the weight of what he had to do, but he opened his mouth anyway. He forced the words out before he could stop them in his throat, “Kai and I are dating.”

And Mira’s posture stiffened. The light turned green.

“Mira… The light,” Adam said softly. There were no cars behind them, luckily, because Mira let two more light cycles go by before she turned to Adam, her teeth clenched. She opened her mouth, but didn’t say a thing. She simply whipped her head back around and drove them the rest of the way to school. Tension hung between them like poisonous gas.

Mira pulled into her school-assigned parking space and jumped off of the moped.

Kai was waiting for them on the grass. He raised his hand in a wave, his goofy smile bright as ever. But as Mira stomped past him and into the school building, his face darkened, worry flooding his features.

Adam walked up to his boyfriend and rested his head on his shoulder. “I told her.” 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! An early (or late) chapter for you guys! It isn't Thursday, and I know it is painfully short, but I have a time-sensitive announcement I want to make at the end of the chapter and I couldn't wait for Thursday to announce it! I was a little eager. So make sure to read the note at the end of this chapter.

Mira chewed on her thumb nail. No matter what she tried, she couldn’t focus on the multiple choice test sitting on the desk in front of her. Anxious thoughts and worry buzzed around her heavy head.

The last time Adam had been in a relationship, it had also been with one of their close friends — Reeve. And that experience had ended just about as horribly as anything could have ended. The two had been completely incompatible, and as a result, every single time the three got together, Mira was forced to play the mediator. She spent a year desperately trying to hold her friends together, but despite her best efforts, she lost Reeve. And although Reeve was finally back to being their friend, that didn’t dismiss what had happened.

Mira knew that putting up a wall between her, and Adam and Kai was probably the least helpful thing she could do. After all, Kai was less headstrong, less angry, and less hard to get along with than Reeve. But, she also knew that Reeve wasn’t the only factor that had led to the nasty breakup.

Adam was plenty headstrong and angry too. And it wasn’t like Kai and Adam had always gotten along perfectly. They had had plenty of misunderstandings and fights in their time as friends. What if being in a relationship only made their differences more prominent? What if what had happened before happened all over again? This time, Mira wasn’t sure if she would be able to handle another falling out.

Mira put down her pencil and held her head, slouching in her desk. She wanted more than anything to be supportive, but this whole situation was becoming all too familiar.

* * *

Adam understood why Mira reacted the way she did, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. Dating Reeve had been a mistake, in hindsight — it was a relationship built out of a desperate need to have a date to the 8th grade dance. They were young. And in middle school.

He looked up at Kai. He was sitting on Adam’s mattress and Adam was sitting on the floor with his back against the bedframe. Kai had his legs slung over Adam’s shoulders and he was hyper with anxiety. He absently fidgeted with Adam’s perfect coif, sweat beading on his forehead.

Adam reached up and gently held down Kai’s fiddling hands, squishing them deeper into his hair, and effectively messing up his do. “I knew what happened with Reeve was bad, but I didn’t know it was bad enough to make Mira angry like this.”

“It shouldn’t have been.” Kai exhaled, frustration sitting in his tone. “You apologized to her, right?”

“I did. Right after we broke up.”

“You acknowledged how it had hurt her?”

“Multiple times.”

“So she has no excuse to be like this!” Kai mumbled and lay back on the bed, his arms spread out to either side. “I thought…” He began before shaking his head and pressing his palms into his eyes.

“You thought what?” Adam rose and sat on the bed too.

“Well…” Kai sniffled. “I thought I had found friends for life. After everything we went through. And now, we’re together. And I thought that maybe…” He rubbed his eyes with his shirt sleeve and rolled over onto his side. “I thought maybe I could keep something for myself for once.”

“Kai…” Adam gently rested his hand on Kai’s back. Kai seemed to accept the gesture, so Adam lingered there, rubbing his shirt, hoping to be even a tiny comfort for Kai.

“I grew up surrounded by people who didn’t really care about me.” Kai was crying now. Not a lot, but Adam could hear it in his voice — in the way he words came out smushed and wobbly. “So I was hoping this would last a while, you know?”

Adam pulled Kai up from his fetal position and drew him into a hug. “I’m going to talk to Mira. And I’m going to make sure you don’t lose anyone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, all. Yet again, I come to you with an incredibly short chapter for you. I am really sorry about the length of these things. I am actually a columnist for my school newspaper and I’m currently working on my latest pieces. Needless to say, the research and writing I’m doing for those articles is seriously burning me out. But I’m trying my best!  
> I doubt that I will have the energy to have a chapter ready for next week (I ran out of my prewritten chapters like 4 publications ago), but I had a bit of an idea that I want to see if y’all would be interested. How would you feel about a fanart exhibition?  
> How this would work is you choose your favorite moment from this fanfiction and draw it! It doesn’t matter how good you are at art or anything! I just want to see what the fans of this fic can come up with! I feel such a sense of community from all of you regular readers and I would love to see some of your talent!  
> If you’re interested, submit your fanart to spiralingrozavie@gmail.com by 6 p.m. July 30. If I get any submissions, I will post the exhibition next week at 8 p.m. July 30. If I don’t get anyone interested, just expect another break!  
> I hope some of you will submit something! Thanks again for reading and I will see you when I see you!


	10. Chapter 10

Reeve wasn’t exactly surprised when Adam told him that he and Kai were an item. In fact, Reeve had seen it coming from a million miles away. What he was surprised about was how Mira had chosen to handle the news.

“So Mira’s mad at you?” Reeve propped his cheek up against the meaty part of his palm and stirred his iced latte. This coffee shop was where Adam had taken Reeve on their first date. Now, it was just their favorite place to chill. “What does that have to do with me?”

He put on an aloof air, but Reeve had a sneaking suspicion as to why Adam bothered to drag him into his relationship drama. Reeve had always been worried that Mira harbored a grudge about how he and Adam’s dating impacted her, but he hoped that she had moved past it. Adam only confirmed his fears after explaining the whole situation.

“I feel like I might have a better chance talking some sense into her if you help me out.” Adam glanced over at Kai who was awkwardly sipping a cream soda in the seat next to him. “Kai and I…” he paused and drummed the tips of his fingers against the table before turning his gaze back to Reeve. “Well, we’re more compatible. I want her to listen to me when I tell her that.”

Reeve pinched the bridge of his nose and chuckled sourly. “You don’t have to sound so ashamed that we weren’t a good match.” He exhaled and lowered his head, his forehead almost touching the rim of his chilled glass. “I shouldn’t have rushed into a relationship with you,” he admitted. “I was anxious to get dating. It’s what everyone was doing. And I thought that since we were such good friends, it would obviously work.” He ran a hand across his dreads. “I’m just not relationship material.”

“You’ll find someone better, Reeve.” Adam smiled gently. “Don’t get yourself down.”

Reeve responded with a scoff, triggering Adam to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “I’m not sad about it. I don’t want to date anyone.”

“Oh…” Adam cleared his throat and shrugged. “Well, I guess that would explain why it didn’t work out.”

Reeve let himself laugh and nodded. “Yeah, definitely.” He leaned forward and placed both of his hands on the table. “But what do you want me to do, to stop Mira from being mad?”

“We need to talk to her. Assure her that what happened once will not happen again.”

“I’m still not sure why you want me involved.”

“You were part of the problem last time so I figured-“

Reeve cut Adam off, holding his hand up in interruption. “But I’ve got nothing to do with you guys now,” he explained. “I can’t help you here. You need to show Mira yourselves.” He stood, sipping up the last bit of his beverage. “I would like to help, but this is your first rough patch as a couple. You need to work through it together. As a couple. You don’t need a third wheel complicating things.”

And he left. If Kai and Adam couldn’t figure this obstacle out alone, they probably wouldn’t last anyway.

* * *

“Adam and I are together.”

When Kai dropped that little tidbit of information, Vanessa nearly fell off her couch. She quickly composed herself, however, raking her fingers through her smooth, purple hair. “Well, obviously.” She rolled her eyes. While it _was_ true that she recently began to suspect that Kai and Adam had feelings for each other, she never anticipated that the two would actually make it official. She was happy for them. And surprised. But she couldn’t let Kai know that.

“You moved on from me pretty fast,” she teased. She picked up the remote from the coffee table and paused their movie. She figured that whatever conversation was about to follow was more important than the climax of “Frida Walker: Time Traveling Baby Detective 5.” It was Kai’s favorite gag movie, and he only ever asked Vanessa to sit through it when he was upset.

“Sorry…” Kai sat on his hands and chuckled awkwardly.

“It’s fine.” Vanessa reached out and patted his shoulder. “We were a bad match anyway. I’m really not mad. Just joking.”

Kai responded with a smile before hanging his head and running his hands over his face. “Mira is though.”

“Mad? Why?”

“Something about back when Adam and Reeve were dating.”

Vanessa sucked in some air through her teeth before exhaling sharply. “Reeve told me a little bit about that.”

“I heard it was bad.”

“Me too…” Vanessa shrugged. “But neither of us were around when it went down.” She picked at her fingernails and drew her legs up onto the couch, sitting sideways to look at Kai’s profile.

Kai nodded weakly. “But I still wish I knew how to help.”

“Kai. Look at me.”

He turned his head slowly and locked eyes with Vanessa. She had a certain intensity about her that always seemed to grab people’s attention.

“This sounds like an Adam and Mira issue,” she said. It was a bit harsh, but Kai had to hear the hard truth. “I know they’re your friends. I know you want to help, and you can. You can help Adam by being is boyfriend and helping him sort through his emotions. But this emotional thing that Mira is dealing with is something you are not responsible for.”

“So I should just abandon them?” Kai mumbled.

“No. That’s not what I said.” Vanessa sighed and rubbed her eyes with her palms. “You stick by your boyfriend. Be his foundation. But, you have to let Adam and Mira talk this out on their own.” Her gaze lingered on Kai for a silent moment more before she turned and started the movie again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of a surprise chapter because I said I wouldn’t have one this week! So surprise! I got past my writer’s block! You might notice that this chapter is from a couple of new perspectives. I think I was burning out using only the three kids, so I added in a few more to spice it up a little. Hopefully this is a change for the better and I can keep my writer’s block away for good!   
> Unfortunately, I didn’t get any submissions for a fanart showcase this time around, but I did see some interest in it! I’m keeping that email from the previous update open (spiralingrozavie@gmail.com) for submissions indefinitely! You can submit any potential fanart there whenever you want and I will probably make an online gallery featuring all of it that I will make accessible for everyone.  
> I understand that the deadline I gave was pretty tough to reach so hopefully, the people who expressed interest will feel more comfortable now that there isn’t a time limit!   
> Please enjoy the chapter and I look forward to seeing anything anyone comes up with art-wise! (If I run into a block again, I will let you all know!)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick announcement! I am now part of the OFFICIAL “The Hollow” amino! You can find me on there under my normal name, Rozavie! You can chat with me and interact with me 1 on 1! It’s a little difficult to interact with you guys through Ao3, so if you ever want to chat with me about the story, or just “The Hollow” in general, please don’t hesitate to hunt me down on the amino.  
> This chapter is also super cheesy, but I was in a cheesy romance mood! Also, sorry for not posting yesterday. I was super busy and I just totally forgot, even though I had this chapter prewritten.  
> With that said, please enjoy this chapter!

Mira slowed as she walked out of the school. Adam was standing across the parking lot, lingering anxiously in front of her moped.

Adam hadn’t spoken to her in about a week—in actuality, she had been actively avoiding both him and Kai—and she didn’t know if she was ready to talk to Adam. But, ready or not, she had to get home somehow, so she took a deep breath and slowly made her way over.

Adam straightened up when he saw her and started talking even before Mira had stopped her approach. “You really have no right to be mad at me for dating Kai.”

Great start, Mira thought as she took her helmet from her backpack.

“But, I still understand that my relationship with Reeve was difficult on you. And that me being with Kai dredges up some bad memories.” His eyes went droopy and sympathetic as he looked over at her. “I never really apologized for how much of a jerk I was.”

“You can’t promise me that what happened then won’t happen again,” Mira mumbled as she tried to move past Adam and hop on her scooter.

Adam stepped between her and the vehicle, grabbing her hand gently. “Yes I can,” Adam said definitively, his lips pressing together into a hard line. “I like Kai more than I’ve ever liked anyone. Kai isn’t Reeve. And if you won’t give _me_ the benefit of the doubt, you should at least trust that Kai wouldn’t let relationship drama mess with us.” He made a wide, circular gesture with his arm, indicating that he meant their three-person group as a whole.

Mira felt her lip tremble and she gripped her helmet tighter at her side. “I know… I know you’re right.” Kai wasn’t Reeve. Reeve was a lot rasher and more volatile than Kai, so when she actually thought about it, it became incredibly clear to Mira that Kai would never push her away just because of a falling out with Adam. But, of course, she hadn’t been thinking clearly all week.

Adam let out a massive breath he had apparently been holding, and pulled Mira into a tight hug. “I am so sorry for making you a third wheel back then. I never want to make you feel like that again.”

Mira sniffled and dried her eyes quickly before patting Adam roughly on the back. “Yeah. I trust you.” Before she fell into a full-blown happy sob, she pulled away and smiled. “So tell me how you two got together!”

* * *

And just like that, Mira was back to her old self. Kai walked on eggshells around her for a few days, but quickly fell back into the old routine once he felt confident that she harbored no bad feelings toward him.

The only difference now was that he and Adam were free to kiss and hold hands around Mira. Although, Adam wasn’t big on PDA, so most of the lovey dovey stuff happened when they were alone. But Kai wasn’t complaining.

Another thing that had changed was the seasons—finally. The endless, orange autumn had given way to a landscape of blue-tinted freeze. Kai peered out his window one morning before school and was pleased to see a thick sheet of crystalline whiteness clinging to the grass and the trees outside.

Davis knocked respectfully on Kai’s door, pulling the young man from gazing into the cold scene just beyond the glass.

Davis pushed the door open gingerly and bowed in the doorway, “Good morning, sir.”

“Ah! Good morning, Davis!” Kai stood up from his desk and shot a pair of finger guns in the butler’s direction. “I was just about to get ready for school, promise.” He smiled wide.

“Well, in that case, I am glad that I caught you.” Davis stooped down and began plucking dirty clothes and game controllers off of Kai’s cluttered floor. “School has been cancelled today, sir.”

“Snow day?” A grin materialized over Kai’s already-smiling mouth.

“Snow day, sir.”

“You know what that means, Davis.”

* * *

Davis knew all too well what a snow day meant. Ever since master Kai was a boy, and whenever there was the odd snow day, the young master would drag Davis out into the frigid temperatures and force him to sled down the dangerously large hill located on the western side of the property.

Master Kai was always too nervous to face the hill alone, and he would only ever sled there if Davis tried it first. Davis hated the cold, and he hated being the test dummy for master Kai, but he could never say no to his favorite child. Still, he had hoped that master Kai would outgrow such an activity, but, to his despair, the young man was as eager as ever.

Davis stared warily over the edge of the hill. To him, it appeared as if the slope had grown even larger since he was last forced to sled a couple of years prior. He shifted his gaze to master Kai. He was offering Davis two thumbs up with his gloved hands and cheering him on from below.

“Come on! You can do it!” he hollered. “You’re the master of this hill!”

Davis inhaled and clutched the dinky plastic sled closer to his chest. He took a step forward, prepared to fling himself off the precipice, but before he could take the leap of faith, a voice cut through the snow-muffled air.

“Hey, Kai!”

Davis turned his head and saw Kai’s handsome little friend Adam rounding the side of the house. He let out a sigh of relief. Perhaps the presence of Adam would distract Kai long enough for Davis to get out of sledding this time.

* * *

Adam tried the bell at Kai’s front door. He heard the oppressively loud ring echo through the house, but to his surprise, there was no answer. Not even Davis appeared to usher him inside. So, Adam decided to walk around the grounds of the mansion to see if, maybe, Kai was up to something outside.

After a few minutes of trudging through the snow, Adam saw his boyfriend standing at the bottom of some huge hill at the edge of the property. On top of the mound stood Davis. He was clutching a sled and looked about as pale as the snow around him.

Adam raised his eyebrow and started a slow jog over. “Hey, Kai!”

Kai looked over and his face lit up instantly.

“What are you doing?” Adam arrived at Kai’s side and half-smiled as he looked up at Davis. “Torturing your butler?”

“No!” Kai rolled his eyes and returned the smile. He looked over his shoulder at Davis. “You can go inside if you want!” he called. “I’ll hang out with Adam today.”

Davis’ face melted into a smile and he began to look for a way to get down, but his foot slipped and he went tumbling, head over heels down the slope. At the bottom, the butler stood up with dignity, brushed himself off and rushed inside without a word, leaving the sled in the snow by Kai’s feet.

Once he was out of sight, Adam turned and planted a kiss on Kai’s lips. “I asked Mira if she wanted to come over with me, but she was busy with her dads making snow day stew or something.”

Kai kissed back for a moment before bending down to pick up the yellow sled. “That’s too bad. I’ll invite her over this weekend. But, I have no complaints about spending a snow day with just my boyfriend.”

“Even with Davis around?” Adam glanced over his shoulder. Knowing that Davis could be anywhere made him a little nervous to be lovey with Kai out here.

Kai chuckled. “I’m not hiding anything from him. I don’t really care if he knows about us or not.” He grinned and pushed the sled into Adam’s chest. “Anyway, I think you should try out that hill. It’s the best in town.”

“I haven’t been sledding since I was ten.”

“Well, you are missing out, my friend!” Kai exclaimed as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Sledding is the ultimate in snow day activities.”

“Then why don’t you sled down the hill?” Adam asked skeptically. “First, you make Davis do it. And now me? What’s your game?”

“No game.” Kai cleared his throat. He began to turn red and pulled his hat tighter down around his ears.

Adam smirked. “You’ve never been sledding.”

Kai paused before hanging his head. “I always watch Davis and other people do it, but I’ve never had the courage.” He shrugged. “I can’t bring myself to ride down that,” he gestured down the hill, “on that,” he said as he pointed at the sled in Adam’s hands.

Adam grabbed Kai hand softly and began to climb with him to the top of the hill. “You are going to sled today if it’s the last thing I do.”

“I can’t do that, Adam!” Kai protested.

“Yes you can.” Adam turned to Kai when the reached the top of the hill. He placed his free hand on Kai’s shoulder and leaned into him. “I’m going to do it with you. This sled is big enough for two.”

Kai’s eyes shifted from side to side, and he was starting to sweat. Adam lifted his chin, prompting eye contact. “You took on an ice monster once. You can take on one snowy hill.”

And with that, Adam sat on the sled. After a moment, Kai cozied up behind him and wrapped his arms tightly around Adam’s chest. Adam’s stomach did a somersault as Kai’s warm body pressed up against his back. Adam scooted the sled forward until it began to slide on its own.

As the made their descent, Kai’s terrified screams turned to manic laughter. And then, the sled bucked up on a bump in the snow and the two boys went flying into the air.

* * *

They went tumbling over each other, until Kai found himself face first in the snow. No. Not the snow. His face wasn’t cold, or wet. Rather, he found that his nose was buried into something warm, alive, and laughing.

He looked up to see that he had landed smack on top of Adam’s chest. Adam’s perfect hair was caked in snow, and white flakes nestled in his thick eyebrows. Kai could only imagine what his own hair must have looked like in that moment.

Kai reached up and brushed the white powder from Adam’s face and began to laugh as well. “Okay, that was actually really fun.”

Adam finally caught his breath and looked down at Kai. A red blush slowly appeared in his cheeks as he seemed to realize the position they had found themselves in. Adam moved to get up, but Kai stopped him, grabbing his hand, and pulling him back down so they were once again pressed up against each other in the snow.

“I’m okay like this.” Kai smiled sheepishly.

“Me too…” Adam smiled back and leaned his head down. And the two kissed, long and soft, as a flurry of snow fell gently around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first full-length chapter in a while! I am so incredibly happy with this, so I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it.  
> The story is about to shift some gears (there might be a bit of a time jump, but I’m not sure yet), so prepare for some new conflicts to pop up in the near future. Before I move into the next part of this story though, I think I’m going to linger here for a while and just write some self-indulgent fluffy romance for a few chapters. This snow scene is what inspired me to hammer this out, so I want to give myself some time to write what I enjoy for a little while. After I get my fix, I will get back into conflict and character development, promise.  
> See you next week for the normal chapter! Thanks again for reading, stay wonderful!


	12. Chapter 12

Winter break rolled around quickly, and the air was buzzing with holiday cheer. The town was always covered in holiday lights at this time of year, and hoards of shoppers swarmed the shops downtown to pick up last-minute presents.

For most everyone in town, this time of year was a joyous one, but Kai, for one, was feeling anything but joy.

Kai had been hoping that the programming in this world was designed to keep his parents out of his life, but, a week into December, his mother and father came home from their extended trip. And Kai’s pleasant world came crashing down around him.

It was back to the relentless fighting and the shouting. So much shouting. Of course, Kai hadn’t let on that anything was wrong. As far as anyone else had to be concerned, he was as happy as ever.

He told Adam as much when he shared the news with him. And he reassured Mira and Vanessa that he would be A-Okay. But he was anything but.

“I can’t believe you insisted on spending Christmas at home rather than with my parents,” Kai’s mother screamed over dinner one night. “Kai hasn’t seen his grandparents in years. He’ll want to spend time with them before they pass on!”

“Oh, don’t play that card again, Cheryl!” his father hollered back. “We both know your snake of a mother couldn’t die if she wanted to!”

“Don’t you talk about my mother like that, Roger!”

Kai slumped in his seat and pushed his peas around his plate. He focused on the motion of his fork as he chased his vegetables around, trying desperately to pass the time until he was excused. Although these screaming matches were par for the course, Kai’s heart beat quick, and his entire body was fire.

Tears pricked at his eyes as the argument escalated, and just as he was sure that he would begin to cry, Davis came into the room and swept away their plates—Kai had barely eaten anything. It was a generous gesture of mercy , a silent indication from Davis that Kai was free to go. And go he did.

Kai barreled down the impossibly-long hall to his bedroom and locked himself inside. He slid down to the floor and clutched his knees to his chest.

The calendar across the room said that today was Christmas Eve. But, Kai would never have guessed. Christmas hadn’t been something he was allowed to enjoy for a long, long time.

Kai wasn’t okay. And for once in his life, he didn’t want to pretend like he was. So, he pulled out his phone, and he made a call.

* * *

Adam had never been exactly good at building gingerbread houses, but even so, he always enjoyed spending time with his mom in the kitchen. Making one of these cookie dwellings on Christmas Eve had been a family tradition since before Adam could remember, and no matter how inept he was at baking, he wouldn’t miss it for anything.

Adam’s hands were coated in frosting. He shakily piped a snowy trim on the roof of the tiny home, making the piping bag messy with the sugary substance. As he struggled, his phone began to buzz in his pocket. He looked at his hands, hesitated, and reached into his pocket. He pulled his phone out, smearing frosting both inside his pocket and all over the screen.

“I’ll be right back,” he said to his mom as he left the kitchen. He answered, holding his now-frosted phone up to his ear. “Hey, Kai. What’s up?” He rubbed his hand into his jeans, transferring some of the white frosting onto the fabric.

“I said I was okay with my parents,” Kai’s voice came out of the speaker husky and raw. “But they’ve been fighting all night. I hate being here with them.”

Adam stayed quiet for a moment, processing what Kai had said. Judging by the tremor in his voice, it was clear that he had been crying. He wasn’t explicitly begging, but he was wordlessly asking for Adam to come save him from his family.

Adam glanced at the clock—6 p.m. He could run and get Kai, and be back in time for dinner. Even if doing so meant he would miss putting the finishing touches on the gingerbread house for the first time in his life, Kai was much more important.

“Kai, I’ll be right over, okay?” Before Kai could respond, Adam hung up the call and rushed back into the kitchen.

“Who was that, honey?” Adam’s mom turned around and looked up with a smile. The cheer on her face instantly faded when she saw her son’s expression. His eyebrows were steepled and his lips were pulled tight. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I need to go get Kai,” Adam explained as he washed his hands clean in the sink. “Do you think he can spend Christmas with us? His parents are kind of a nightmare.”

Adam’s mom blinked for a moment but then smiled once again. “Of course, dear. I would love to spend Christmas with your special guy.”

“Thanks, mom.” And he sprinted from the house like a bullet.

It took maybe fifteen minutes for Adam to get over to Kai’s house, convince his parents to let him stay over for the holiday, gather Kai and his overnight stuff, and return home. Adam was pleased that it had been so easy, but he also found himself seething as he walked through the snow-dusted streets.

What kind of parents would let their son bail on Christmas without a second thought? How could those jerks completely dismiss Kai? Kai, of all people. The funniest, sweetest, most loyal person you could ever meet. Adam clutched Kai’s hand tighter. He made a promise to himself, and a silent promise to Kai—he would never take his boyfriend for granted.

When the two made it to Adam’s place, Adam’s mom welcomed Kai with a huge smile, and an even bigger hug. She still had frosting on her hands, so she hugged him with her hands hovering over his back. Still, Kai accepted the hug graciously.

“Thanks for letting me come over.” Kai pulled back and rubbed the back of his head.

“It is my pleasure, dear. We’re happy to have you.” Adam’s mom patted Kai’s shoulder with her wrist and turned to make her way back to the kitchen. “I just started dinner. It should be ready in an hour.”

After the formalities were out of the way, Adam threw his arms around Kai, almost knocking him over. He held the back of his head with one hand, bringing him as close to his chest as was physically possible. Adam never wanted to let him go back there. He knew he would have to eventually, so, for now, he drew him close.

* * *

How would Kai be able go back to his own cold, unfeeling folks after tonight? Just eating dinner with Adam’s family was enough to get him hooked on their unyielding warmth. The food was delicious and made with great care, and he was suddenly very grateful that he had been too upset to eat anything at his own house. Adam’s parents’ cooking was as pleasant as their conversation.

They welcomed Kai into their home like their own, and he wished that it could last forever. He tried not to think about how this was only a temporary happiness.

After dinner, Adam excused himself, and Kai did the same.

Adam closed his door to his bedroom gently. The first time Kai had come over as Adam’s boyfriend, Adam’s parents were so excited for their son that they found every excuse to invade and observe. Now, Adam made a point of closing his bedroom door whenever Kai came over.

“My dad rolled out my old sleeping bag for you.” Adam walked over to his closet and pulled out a shirt and pajama pants. “But you can have my bed. My room can get pretty cold at night.”

“I don’t want to take your bed.” Kai dropped his backpack into Adam’s desk chair.

“You let me have your bed when I slept over that one time. So I owe you,” Adam insisted. He looked down at the pajamas in his hands and blushed slightly. “Do you mind if I change?”

Kai felt his own cheeks grow warm and he stood, facing the wall. “I’ll change at the same time. We can turn away from each other.”

“Good idea. Okay. Tell me when you’re done.”

Kai dug into his bag and pulled out his own sleepwear and nervously began to change. He pushed away the urge to steal a peek at Adam. He had promised to avert his gaze, and he didn’t want to do anything that would make Adam uncomfortable. After he was totally changed, Kai said, “Okay, I’m done.”

“Me too.”

Kai turned back around and smiled sheepishly, hoping that his blush wasn’t as noticeable as it felt.

Adam turned off the lights then sat on the sleeping bag with his legs stretched out in front of him. “Christmas Eve lights out is at 8:00,” he explained. “It’s been like that since I was a kid. So we should probably hit the hay.”

Kai chuckled and sat cross legged on Adam’s bed, sinking into the mattress. “Obviously. Santa won’t come if you’re awake,” he teased.

Adam laughed and nodded. “Yeah, exactly.” He lay down, tucking himself into the sleeping bag. “Goodnight.”

Kai burrowed into Adam’s blankets. The entire bed smelled like him, and he felt his heartbeat quicken. This was the first time they had had a sleepover since becoming a couple. There was no way Kai would be able to sleep tonight.

* * *

Adam was happy to have Kai here, but his presence was making it possible to get comfortable. He could hear Kai’s heavy breaths, and it t didn’t help that his room really was freezing, and that he was sleeping on the hard floor.

After a few moments, Adam heard Kai sit up. “Are you still awake?”

“Yeah…”

“You were right. It’s pretty cold in here, even in an actual bed,” Kai observed. He seemed to fidget around in the dark for a moment before saying, “Why don’t we just share the bed? If I’m cold, you’re definitely colder.”

Adam could practically hear the blush in Kai’s voice. Adam’s pulse sped up like he was running a marathon, even though he was sitting perfectly still. He composed himself before standing. “If you’re okay with that.” He squinted into the dark and made out the outline of Kai against the closed window.

Kai nodded and scooted over in the bed. “There’s plenty of room,” he mumbled.

Adam gingerly sat on the edge of the mattress before swinging his legs over the edge and joining Kai. It was Adam’s bed, the bed he had had for most of his life, but with Kai next to him, the piece of furniture felt different. He slipped under the covers and became hyper-aware of Kai’s warmth next to him.

They both lay stiffly, mere inches filled with empty space separating their bodies. Adam cleared his throat and removed his gaze from the darkened ceiling to look over at Kai. “Do you want to cuddle…? For warmth?”

Kai slowly rolled over, his gaze landing gently on Adam. He nodded.

Easy. All Adam had to do was wrap his arms around his boyfriend and pull him in. He did that all the time. But this wasn’t like other times. They were going to be sleeping in the same bed. Sharing the same blankets. Adam’s hand hovered over Kai’s shoulder.

While Adam began to implode, Kai smiled and did it himself. He wiggled over so that their faces were nearly touching, and pulled Adam’s arm over him. It was a bold move. Adam wasn’t used to Kai being the one to take the initiative and it made his face glow red.

Kai wrapped his arms around Adam’s neck. “We’re dating, so this is okay now.”

Adam nodded. He let his body loosen and his lips found Kai’s in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I am required to establish that, no, in this canon, they do not have s*x after this chapter ends. I’ve said it many times, but I don’t write, or even like to imply, smut. Especially considering these two are both minors. Just make the assumption that my characters aren’t doing anything like that, period!  
> With that out of the way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next week, the chapter will be Christmas day. I understand that it’s nowhere near the holidays, but I was itching to write some holiday romance! I’m a sucker for that kind of thing.   
> See you next week!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost forgot to update today!!! I am seriously not all there lately!

The winter sun streamed in through a crack in the curtains. The white light prompted Kai to open his eyes. And when he had wiped the bleary sleep from his eyes, he found that he was still lying, face-to-face next to Adam in bed. Kai blushed and grinned. He had thought that it was a dream—cuddling with his boyfriend on Christmas Eve. But, much to his delight, it had actually happened.

Kai gingerly lifted his hand and ran a finger over Adam’s eyebrows. Then, he traced his lips softly. Kai still couldn’t believe that those perfect lips were his, and that he was allowed to kiss them whenever he wanted.

“Dude… What are you doing?” Adam mumbled, eyes still closed. A tiny smile appeared on his face.

Kai jumped. He had thought that Adam was still asleep. Kai turned red and quickly removed his hand. “You just had something on your face.” Kai had been the one to tell Adam not to do anything weird or mushy with him, but here he was touching the guy’s face. He scrambled out of the bed and leaned “casually” against the windowsill.

Adam opened his eyes and chuckled. “Did you get it?”

“As a matter of fact I did.”

Adam sat up. “Good. I would hate for my captivating looks to be tainted.”

Kai rolled his eyes, but smiled.

A knock came from the bedroom door, followed by a voice. “Get up, boys! Santa paid us a visit last night,” Adam’s dad called.

The two made their way downstairs in their pajamas, and Kai stopped short at the bottom of the stairs. He hadn’t gotten a good look at the family’s Christmas tree the night before. It was absolutely gorgeous. Shimmering, homemade ornaments hung delicately from the branches, and string lights dotted the tree like stars. Presents wrapped in gold, green, red, and white occupied the floor under the tree and spilled out in front of the fireplace.

Kai’s family always boasted the biggest, most extravagantly decorated tree in town, but it was a cold gesture. This tree was colorful, nostalgic, and oh-so beautifully imperfect.

Adam tugged at Kai gently. He walked the rest of the way into the room with him where they sat together on the couch. Adam’s dog Puddles ran excitedly around Kai’s feet as he settled in, and Kai reached down to pat his furry little head.

A few presents later, Adam’s mother looked over at Kai, her forehead wrinkled with concern. “We tried to find you something to open for today, but the shops were all closed by the time we knew you were coming,” she offered a thin-lipped smile as she nursed her morning coffee. “I’m sorry we couldn’t pull anything together.”

Kai shook his head quickly and raised a hand. “It’s okay,” he assured her. “It’s enough of a gift to be spending the day with you guys.”

Adam’s mom’s expression shifted and the worry behind her deep brown eyes softened. Her forced grimace of a smile melted into a genuine grin. “This one is a keeper, dear,” she said, winking in the direction of her son.

Adam’s cheeks went red and he lowered his head slightly. He busied his hands with tearing open one of his finely wrapped presents and mumbled, “Thanks mom, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Kai felt his own cheeks grow warm and he hid his uncontrollable, goofy smile behind a sip of hot chocolate. He truly didn’t care whether or not he got presents today. His parents would give him his mountain of gifts once he got home anyway. But, while piles upon piles of Christmas presents sounds like a fantastic deal to most kids, Kai’s parents seemed to have a serious misunderstanding when it came to his interests. Every year his presents were nothing more than ill-fitting clothes, long-winded novels, and other expensive, yet utterly useless displays of obligation.

Adam nudged Kai out of his thoughts with his elbow. “Speaking of…” his voice cracked, and he cleared his throat with a sharp “AHEM” before continuing. “Speaking of presents. I actually _do_ have something for you.”

“What is it?” Kai wiped his hot chocolate from his chin upper lip with the sleeve of his pajama shirt.

“Well…” Adam hesitated.

It was strange to see Adam becoming so flustered. He was usually a fairly stoic guy. Of course he had his awkward moments, Kai had seen plenty of those, but Adam tended to maintain a pretty suave demeanor.

Adam continued, “I’ll give it to you later… When we’re alone, alright?”

Kai lifted his eyebrow and took another swig of his drink. Whatever it was, Kai was understandably concerned that Adam didn’t want to show his parents. But, even so, Kai nodded.

* * *

Everyone ate a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes. It was the breakfast that Adam’s family had eaten every Christmas morning since Adam was a baby, and it was as delicious as ever. However, the butterflies in Adam’s stomach made it hard to enjoy much of anything. He spent the majority of the meal watching Kai smother his eggs in syrup and sloppily chase his pancakes down with orange juice.

Was his gift a bad idea? He was probably going to embarrass himself. Maybe he should have just bought Kai a new game controller or something…

“Alright, boys,” Adam’s dad said, shaking Adam from his internal panic. He rose from his chair and began gathering the dirty plates and cups. “Go get dressed. We’ll be going out to the Christmas farmer’s market downtown.”

The short stroll up the stairs and to Adam’s room was impossibly awkward. But it was in the lingering silence that Adam decided—he would give Kai his present, even if it was embarrassing.

Adam closed the door behind him and Kai and made his way over to his desk. He pulled a small box from one of the drawers and leaned back onto the surface of the desk. He scratched his nose and held out the present. “So, I got this for you,” he explained. “But I’m sort of regretting it. Not regretting buying you something, but I’m thinking that maybe I could have gotten something better.”

Kai gingerly took the box and moved to stand next to Adam in front of the desk. “I’m sure it’s not that bad,” he said as he tore through the paper and opened the tiny box. Right as he finished his sentence, his eyes feel upon the present and he burst out laughing almost instantly.

“What?” Adam blushed. “What’s so funny?”

“You got me a necklace, dude.” Kai chortled. “And not just a necklace, which I do not wear. But a necklace with your name on it.” He plucked the tacky, gold pendant and chain from the box and held it up to his face.

Adam rubbed the back of his neck and rolled his eyes. “Well, all of the blogs I read said to give something like that to your partner.” He shrugged. “I wanted to do something romantic.”

“I guess, but there’s plenty of romantic things you could give me that aren’t this.”

“Like what?”

“Adam, a video game is more romantic than this.”

“So you don’t like it?”

“I’m never going to wear it,” Kai affirmed. “But I will keep it as a memento. A super tacky memento.” He patted Adam’s shoulder.

Adam chuckled and side-smiled at Kai. “I guess I’ll just have to redeem myself next year.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for missing my post last week. I had this prewritten, but when I went to post it, I realized I didn’t really like how it was written, so I went back and rewrote some of it. Just some cute Christmas escapades.   
> I am starting classes next week, so my updates might get a little less consistent, but I will try to keep a semi-regular schedule. At this point in time, I don’t see an end to this fic. Especially not after the announcement that “The Hollow” has been cancelled. (So so sad to hear about that. If any of you want to mourn with me, please feel free to email me at spiralingrozavie@gmail.com or message me on the official “The Hollow” fan amino. My username is Rozavie on there too. That email is also still always open for fanart of this fic if any of you are so inclined to send me some!) I will continue producing content to give my fellow fans something to look forward to, even if the show is done.   
> I will try to get a chapter out on time next week, but unfortunately, I can’t make any promises at this time.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to post yesterday because I was traveling! But I do have a chapter for you! Enjoy!

“And you’re welcome back anytime!” Adam’s mom called cheerfully.

Kai had wound up staying at Adam’s place for the rest of winter break, and it was the most pleasant break from school he had ever had. Usually, Kai’s parents ruined any hope of him having a good time, but Adam’s family made Kai feel welcome in a way he never thought possible.

Not to mention, flitting off to see his boyfriend for the holiday was an excuse to skip out on his family’s annual Christmas party for which stuffy rich folks—somehow worse than his parents—flocked to his home and ate all of the food. While Kai knew he would have to deal with his family after he left Adam’s house, he felt emotionally prepared for once.

He walked up his front steps and let himself inside. He looked around warily, ready for his parents to bombard him with their ceaseless fighting. But nothing happened.

Kai crept through the mansion, looking into each room and around every corner, until he reached the laundry room at the back of the house.

Davis was inside, folding Kai’s freshly-dried shirts. He seemed to take notice of Kai’s entrance into the room, and he turned to bow. “Welcome home, sir.”

“Thanks…” Kai leaned against the washing machine and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Where are mom and dad?”

“Oh, yes.” Davis continued with his diligent, precise folding. “Your parents left on another trip. Very important business, your father said.”

“Ah.”

“I apologize that you didn’t have the chance to see them before you got back,” Davis said. His face betrayed his words, however. His lips curled into the tiniest of smiles, making his mustache curve upward as well—an expression that said, “Neither of us are really sorry.”

Kai chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, that’s too bad.” Part of him did feel twisted up, knowing that his parents had, once again left him behind. His childhood had been profoundly lonely because of their jet-setting. But now, Kai wasn’t sure he was capable of ever feeling alone again.

He smiled at Davis, listening to the sound of the dryer spin, and watching him work. How could he be lonely when Davis was here? Kai quietly thought about Adam. How could he be lonely knowing Adam was somewhere in the world, thinking of him too?

* * *

Adam didn’t want to admit it, but without Kai around his bed felt really big. And his room sounded way too quiet without Kai’s gentle breathing filling the space.

Adam threw a pillow over his face, closing his eyes against the dark. He couldn’t sleep. What was wrong with him? He felt like such a love-sick idiot. His mind was racing, uncontrollably thinking about seeing Kai at school in the morning.

After a few more minutes of tossing and turning, Adam finally gave in and sat up in bed. He stole a glance at the clock on his desk. 2:00 a.m. He stood up and wandered over to the bathroom down the hall.

He looked into the mirror, and his wide-awake eyes stared back. He leaned into the basin of the sink, and screwed open the faucet. He dipped his hands under the stream of warm water and splashed it up into his face.

When Adam came up from air, he heard rustling in the kitchen and the sound of his mom humming quietly. Adam tiptoed his way downstairs and peeked into the kitchen. “Can’t sleep?” he asked with a smile.

His mom looked up and nodded, returning the smile. She was wrapped in her bathrobe, her pink slippers sticking out of the bottom. “You know me. I’ve always been a night owl.” She was in the process of making tea for herself, so she pulled out a mug for Adam and placed it on the counter next to her own. “Why are you up so late, honey?”

Adam sat heavily on a stool next to the counter and ran his hands over his messy, sleepy-looking hair with a sigh. “Just thinking,” he said vaguely. He leaned forward and entwined his fingers between his legs. “Mom, how did you know you were in love with dad?”

She chuckled. “Why are you asking something like that now?”

“I don’t know. I just realized I never asked about you guys before.”

“Well…” Adam’s mom thought. “What you do know is that your father was not my first husband.”

Adam nodded.

“I married at first out of necessity. Your grandparents wanted me to find someone so badly.” She smiled solemnly as she put the kettle on the stove to boil. “So, I met a man, and I married him.”

“And dad?”

“We were high school sweethearts,” she explained. “We dated for three years, but we went our separate ways after we moved away for college.” She leaned back on the counter as she listened to the water as it began to gurgle and warm. “Anyway, when I realized I didn’t love my husband, I made the difficult choice to file for divorce. He was a kind man, but we just weren’t happy.

“Then, miraculously, right after my divorce became official, your father waltzed back into my life.”

“Did your feelings come back right away?” Adam asked. He realized he was on the edge of the stool and scooted back to prevent himself from leaning off of it entirely. He wasn’t used to hearing about his mom’s past.

“Oh, just about,” she said, laughing. “I think I knew I wanted to share my life with him from the beginning—even back when we were just stupid kids in high school.”

Adam rubbed his ear red before asking what he really wanted to ask, “So you don’t think it’s crazy for me to be in love with Kai?”

“Honey,” his mom came over and held his chin softly. “Your heart might change, and you might not love him forever. But no, I don’t think it’s crazy for you to be in love with him.” She planted a warm kiss on her son’s forehead. And she turned to finish making their tea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! This chapter is a bit short, but I really like how it turned out. I wanted to show the boys with their parental figures, because I love using the adults in this story whenever I can. I think they’re fun because they aren’t present a lot in the actual show, so I get to play with their backstories and personalities a lot more than with the kids!   
> I have a Valentine’s Day episode next week for you all so I hope you can look forward to that. It is very very very lovey dovey which is always so fun to write. Half the time I’m just writing what I wish I could find in a relationship (if I could find a relationship).


	15. Chapter 15

The ground was hard and cracked with winter. The snow had long-since disappeared, leaving only the most bitter, unenjoyable aspects of the season.

Fingers seemed to burn in the windy air, and Kai had his hands burrowed deep into his pockets. Without the snow, the morning was dry and unforgiving, and the whole world looked like it needed to be run over with some Chapstick. The only half-decent part of this February morning was when Kai looked up to see Adam waiting for him at the end of the block.

Kai lightly jogged the rest of the way over and playfully punched Adam in the shoulder. “Hey, dude.” He could feel his nose running, and he drew the back of his glove across his face to wipe it away.

“You’re face looks painful.” Adam raised his eyebrows as he looked down at Kai.

“How do you mean?”

Adam placed his gloved hands on either side of Kai’s face, offering some of his warmth. Kai tried not to melt too much into the feeling.

“Your nose is so red. It looks like it’s going to fall off,” Adam said.

“It’s just because I’m pale. We’re not all blessed with a natural tan like you.”

“That is true,” Adam mused playfully.

Kai grabbed Adam’s hand and held it down at his side with a grin. They began walking along the sidewalk the short rest of the way to school.

After a few moments, Adam cleared his throat. “So, tomorrow is February 14.”

“Mhm.” Kai nodded. Adam must have remembered that he had his big test in geometry tomorrow. That was sweet. “Don’t worry though. I studied.”

“Studied… what?”

“For my test?”

“Oh!” Adam laughed out loud. He didn’t laugh freely very often, and every time he did, it made Kai’s heart flutter. Even if he was laughing at his expense. “Not your test. It’s Valentine’s Day, dude.”

Kai blinked dumbly for a minute before placing his palm to his face in realization. “You were talking about Valentine’s Day.”

“Yeah.” Adam nodded and drew Kai into his chest. He slung his arm around his shoulders and squeezed his arm. “I wanted to make sure you were free tomorrow. I can figure something out.”

“Why not let me put something together?” Kai had said it suddenly, without really thinking about it. But he meant it. Adam always did everything for him. Adam had organized their first date. Adam was the one who invited him over for Christmas. So Kai felt like doing something for once.

“You don’t have to,” Adam tried to insist, but Kai shook his head.

“No, I want to. Give me a chance to do something stupid and romantic.”

Adam broke into a smile and chuckled softly. “Okay. Yeah. Make it good.”

* * *

Adam walked through the evening in a crisp button-up and slacks, his jacket zipped all the way up to his neck in an attempt to fight off the cold. His fancy shined shoes kept slipping on the ice-slicked ground.

Apparently, Kai had finally broken the news of their dating to Davis, and the butler had gotten involved in the night somehow. Kai kept apologizing saying it was “over the top” and “cheesy.” All Adam knew so far was that he was instructed to wear something fancy.

Adam didn’t really care what he and Kai did tonight, he just wanted to get the chance to drop the L-word. The idea of telling Kai he was in love with him was making his chest tight, but he knew he had to say something, or else he would just keep losing sleep.

Adam walked up the front steps to Kai’s front door two at a time. He hesitated for a moment, but rang the doorbell with a determined nod.

Davis came to the door, as usual, but this time, he offered a bow and said, “Welcome, master Adam. Please, follow me.” The butler had a strange twinkle in his eye that Adam couldn’t quite read, but he could tell that there was an excitement in Davis that he had never seen before.

The inside of the house was dim, and the walls were decorated with many shining white lights. Davis led Adam through the halls and to the dining room where Kai was waiting. He was leaned forward in his chair, elbows on the table. His hair was slicked back in the most unflattering style Adam had ever seen, and he was wearing a too-large polo shirt over a pair of barely-clean khakis. His leg was bouncing up and down rapidly like the only way for his energy to escape was through his knee.

Kai didn’t clean up quite so nice, Adam thought. But he was still handsome, even in his lackluster Sunday best.

“Master Adam has arrived,” Davis announced, as if Adam were some kind of nobleman.

Kai looked up, the bounce in his leg stopping abruptly. He smiled awkwardly. “Sorry for the production. I wanted to have Davis make us a meal and then I was planning on playing some video games, but Davis got more involved than I thought.”

Adam handed his coat over to Davis and adjusted his tie. “Don’t worry about it. It’s nice.” He took his seat across the table and tried to look cool, but he was betrayed by the beads of nervous sweat on his forehead. This was a lot of production. He wasn’t used to anyone making a big to-do about him. Adam didn’t dislike it—quite the contrary. It was actually kind of fun being waited on—he just had no idea how to handle it.

Davis brought out their food—a first course of warm tomato soup—and the two began to eat quietly. It was their first Valentine’s Day as a couple, and here they were eating soup silently, staring awkwardly at each other from across the room. They were an entire table apart, so Adam picked up his soup and dragged his chair across the floor so that he was next to Kai. It wasn’t befitting of a proper dinner like this, but Adam didn’t feel like being proper. He wanted to be near his boyfriend.

His gesture was returned with a laugh, and Kai held his hand. The next courses came one after the other, and by dessert, they were chatting openly like they always did. And after they had finished their homemade red velvet cake, Davis redirected them to the longue where he left the two alone.

Kai jumped onto the couch face-first, effectively taking up the whole thing with his body. Adam lifted Kai’s feet up, sat down, and rested his legs across his lap. Kai was just wearing the same shoes he wore every day. It was hard to believe he was so terrible at dressing up, considering who his parents were.

“Should we watch a movie or something?” Kai picked the television remote up from off the coffee table and propped his body up with his elbow.

“Sure.” Adam nodded. It would give him some time to work up the courage to say what he needed to get off his chest. “But not a romance,” he added with a smile. He loosened his tie as he settled in.

“Absolutely not. We’ve had enough cliché for one night.” So, Kai pulled up some nondescript action movie that Adam had seen many times over.

Adam stared blankly at the movie, but he couldn’t fight off his thoughts. What if Kai didn’t like him back? What if saying “I love you” was going too far? He shook his head quickly, as if trying to expel his doubt out of his ears.

* * *

Why had Kai suggested they watch a movie? He didn’t want to watch a movie. He didn’t even like this one. Kai wanted so badly to be romantic with Adam—cuddling, kissing. But he was just sitting there, stuck watching some boring movie he didn’t care about. And Adam was mere inches away from him. And they were just sitting there.

For the first twenty minutes of the flick, Kai fought himself. Was asking to kiss too upfront? Maybe Adam liked this movie, and stopping it would be rude? But after a while, Kai couldn’t help himself anymore.

He paused the movie and turned to Adam. “This is really boring.”

Adam blinked in mild surprise for a moment and then smiled. “Yeah, I was about to say something.” He turned to look at Kai and loosened his tie.

Kai felt his face go hot. Adam looked great in a tie.

“Do you want to forget about not being cliché and just…” Adam cleared his throat. “Kiss or something?”

“It would be better than watching that anyway.” Kai jabbed his thumb in the direction of the TV.

As he agreed, Adam moved in and their lips were connected in seconds, barely giving Kai enough time to finish his sentence. No matter how many times they kissed, the excited somersaults in his stomach never seemed to go away. Sometimes, Kai felt like an idiot for being so smitten, but he could feel Adam’s heart pounding just as hard as his own, so he knew he wasn’t the only one in deep.

Something about the holiday made Kai kiss Adam harder and longer than he had before. And he soon found himself on top of Adam on the couch, his hand absently twirling his tie around and around. He broke away from the kiss and embarrassment rose in his cheeks as he realized how brazen he had been.

But, as Kai went to move away, Adam gently held the back of his neck and pulled him back down. As if he was reading Kai’s mind he mumbled, “I always have to look down at you anyway. This is a nice change.”

Kai couldn’t help but laugh, and as he snorted and snickered, he let out a careless, “I love you so much” and his eyes went wide. He put his hand to his mouth and analyzed what he had said. Maybe Adam didn’t hear him. Kai dared a glance down at Adam’s face.

Adam was slack-jawed in surprise, but soon his mouth closed, and a smile formed instead. He pressed another soft kiss into Kai’s lips and muttered, “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this week’s Valentine’s Day episode! I might have jumped the gun on skipping to winter, because I missed out on writing a Halloween chapter. However, I might still right a special spin-off Halloween chapter when the time comes around. If you’re interested in that, let me know!   
> I am currently still stalling with all this romance, (sorry if it seems self-indulgent) trying to figure out my next step in the conflict of this story. I’m batting around a few ideas, but I can’t choose one that I want to go with so far. I hope you all don’t mind my aimless romance as I sort my thoughts out!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Just a heads up before we get into this chapter: I am introducing a new character—one who is not in the original show. So he will be a bit of an OC, in a way. I feel a little weird shoehorning my own character into the narrative, but I need conflict, and no canon character exists who can suit my needs.   
> I thought about using Tyler, but I couldn’t think of a reasonable way to introduce him organically. So original character it is I guess! I hope y’all don’t have any objections to this because I have no choice if I want to do what I want to do. So with that said, enjoy!

The end of winter came slowly, and by the time March rolled around, the ground was still rock-solid, and the sky hung heavy with gray clouds that threatened snow.

Despite how miserable it was, Kai still made a habit of sitting outside by the sports fields after school. He sat there, shivering to his core, his hat pulled tight around his ears, but he wanted to watch Adam play baseball (even if that meant freezing to death).

Spring training—if you can really call it that—started about a week after Valentine’s Day and since then, it was hard to find time to hang out. So, Kai did what he could. Kai would watch Adam practice, and he would watch his stuff, and do homework while he waited. It was a challenge working a pencil with mittens on, so Kai often dug into Adam’s backpack to borrow his gloves.

Kai chewed on his pencil eraser, hopelessly distracted from the geometry that he had sprawled over his lap. The team was running batting drills, and Kai could barely take his eyes away from the scene. Each guy lined up, one after the other, and took turns hitting balls that the starting pitcher would shoot their way. Kai didn’t used to care about baseball, in fact he had never cared for sports at all. But watching Adam’s eyes shine while he practiced, and hearing him talking for hours about playing fostered in Kai an unexpected love for the sport as well.

Adam hit a ball, sending it flying to the other side of the field, and returned to the back of the line. He caught Kai’s eye and waved over.

Kai waved back, his usual goofy smile brightening the gloomy day. This exchange was interrupted, however, as a loud crack of ball hitting bat echoed through the air, followed by a chorus of swear words. Kai realized just in time as a ball came soaring in his direction, making a beeline toward his face.

Unfortunately, Kai’s alertness didn’t do much to save him from the flying object, and the ball hit him square in the nose. Honestly, Kai thought as he fell backwards from the bench, his nose was a huge target—very hard to miss. But even his internal joking couldn’t stop the pain of the impact.

He felt blood on his upper lip—starkly warm against the chilly air. He went to hold his nose, but then thought for a moment before pulling Adam’s glove off and then wrapping his fingers around his schnoz.

“Oh my god Kai!” Adam was suddenly on top of him, holding his face still and looking at the injury.

“I’m fine,” Kai tried to reassure Adam. But he knew that it must have looked really bad, judging by the horrified look in Adam’s eyes. Adam, stoic Adam with a cool factor of 1,000, was panicking over a little nosebleed.

“I’ll walk you to the nurse.” Adam slung his arm under Kai’s and helped him to his feet.

“I’m really okay. I think it’s just bleeding.”

“It could be broken.”

“I don’t know. I think it takes more than a little baseball to mess up these looks,” he quipped.

But Adam didn’t laugh.

* * *

“See? I told you I was okay.” Kai was sitting cross legged in a bed in the nurse’s office, his head leaned forward and his hand holding a tissue firmly against his nostrils.

Adam pinched his own nose and leaned against the wall next to the bed. “You’re lucky it wasn’t serious.”

“I’ll be more alert next time.”

“I was actually thinking…” Adam sighed and looked up at Kai apologetically. “Maybe you shouldn’t come watch practice anymore.”

“What?” Kai sat up a little straighter. “Just because I got distracted one time and got a little nosebleed?”

“That, and coach told me he thinks you’re distracting me from training.”

Kai scoffed a little and leaned his head back. The nurse scolded him from the other side of the room, “Head forward, unless you want to drown in your own blood. Kai mumbled, “Gross,” but did as he was told anyway.

Kai continued, “I like seeing how passionate you are about it.” He felt painfully cheesy saying it, but it was true.

“If you care about my baseball, then can you do this one thing for me?”

“Fine.” Kai turned his head to look out the window. “Go back to practice.”

“I’m not just gonna leave you to bleed alone.”

“I wouldn’t want to ‘distract you.’” Kai knew he was being a bit unfair, but he was frustrated. It was bubbling up in his throat and it came out in nasty, offhanded words. The one time he was okay with being openly romantic with his boyfriend, and he wasn’t even allowed that.

Adam just exhaled and left quietly.

A few moments later, another set of footsteps came into the room and an unfamiliar voice questioned, “You’re Kai, right?”

* * *

He had never been the best batter on the varsity team, but Luca could not believe that he had actually made someone bleed with one of his screwy hits. The whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion. The ball came flying at him, he closed his eyes and took a wild swing, and was relieved when it made contact. But then, once he opened his eyes, he watched the spinning orb of death hit a kid square in the face.

Naturally, he was on his way to apologize and, hopefully make amends for his lack of batting prowess. As he turned into the short hall where the nurse’s office was, he passed Adam on his way out.

“Um…” Luca stopped Adam by putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’m really sorry for launching a baseball at your boyfriend’s nose.”

“He’ll be fine.” Adam smiled, a weird look of frustration tinting his expression.

Luca wasn’t sure if that anger was directed at him or not, but he didn’t want to find out. So, he simply nodded and moved along.

Inside the office, Kai was looking out the window, a piece of tissue held against his bruising nose. “You’re Kai, right?”

The scrawny almost-redhead shifted his gaze to Luca and nodded. He spoke through his fingers and his voice came out pinched because of his closed nostrils, “That’s me.”

“Umm…” Luca held his hands behind his back awkwardly and his eyes traveled all around the room. His looked from the diagram about hand washing, to the cabinet of Band-Aids, to the nurse eating her afternoon snack at her desk—anywhere that wasn’t directly at his victim. “I was the one who hit the ball.”

“Ah.” Kai’s grin peeked out from the behind the tissue. “You’re the one who messed up this handsome mug.”

Luca nodded quickly. “I am so so sorry. I can make it up to you.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just a nosebleed,” Kai assured him. “Although, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, I wouldn’t expect a varsity guy to hit a ball that badly.”

“No kidding.” Luca laughed and leaned against the bed, his hands gripping the metal frame at the foot. “I only got in because my dad is the principal. I’m not really into sports like that. I’m really only an alternate in case someone gets hurt.” He cleared his throat and smiled shyly, analyzing the way his deceptively muscular arms looked as awkward as he felt. “I was think about quitting for a while and I think almost breaking your face solidified my decision.”

“Probably safer for all noses everywhere.”

Luca found himself laughing again. This Kai guy was actually really funny. All he knew about him were things he knew from gossip and passive observation in the halls—he was dating Adam, he was rich, and people liked to try and get close to him because of it. Luca could sort of sympathize with that, seeing as his dad was in charge of this whole school, and lots of kids thought that being friends with him would get them in the good books with the head honchos. Selfish friendships were a thing they both shared, even though they had never talked.

It was these parallels, Luca supposed, that led him to being as bold as he was here. “Maybe,” he began. “Because I’ve got nothing to do after school anymore, we could hang out?”

Kai responded first with a lopsided smile and said, “Sure! I’ve got nothing going on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I hope the new guy isn’t too weird! Anyway, I am finally getting back into some lovely juicy content! We are entering a new arc, I suppose you could say! Oh what will happen? (Please don’t expect the height of literature here, guys. I’m just a student writing feverishly at midnight in her bedroom. I don’t want to disappoint anyone if the story isn’t quite what they imagined.)


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! Sorry for missing a few chapters! I’m in the middle of the pre-thanksgiving break college rush so I’m a little distracted.  
> Anyway! Enjoy the chapter!

Luca was bad news—Adam could feel it. There was just something about the guy. Maybe it was how suspiciously mild-mannered he was for his size, or because he had always seemed comfortable riding on the coattails of his dad, or maybe it was because he was spending all of his time with Kai.

“I’m sorry dude,” Kai’s voice was muffled through the receiver of Adam’s cell. “I have plans with Luca.”

The weather had finally warmed up, and with the newly thawed spring came rain—heavy enough to flood the baseball field and cancel practice. Adam had hoped that, since he was free for the afternoon, he and Kai could spend some time together. “You always have plans with Luca,” Adam mumbled off-handedly. He hadn’t meant to express his frustrations, but his observation came out cold and judgmental.

Kai paused for a moment. “If I had known you were available today I wouldn’t have invited him over. But I can’t just wait around for you to tell me when it’s safe to make other plans. I’ll see you tomorrow.” And he hung up.

* * *

“Best ten out of twelve?” Kai put down his controller and rubbed his clammy palms against his jeans. He had beaten Luca so many times in this game already, but he was simply refusing to give up. Kai had never met anyone so persistent. It was fun, but he was starting to feel bad. Next round, Kai decided, he would let Luca win.

Luca nodded determinedly, a sparkle lighting up his honey-brown eyes. “I’ll do another round!”

The two had been thick as thieves for about a month, but this was the first time Kai had invited Luca to his house. Kai was reluctant to let Luca come over at first, out of fear that he would end up just being another jerk who only wanted to get close to the rich kid. But, to Kai’s pleasant surprise, Luca didn’t even mention the opulence of his home—even Mira and Adam had first expressed awe when seeing his parent’s mansion for the first time.

Just as Kai was about to start the game up again and give Luca his much-needed pity win, Davis rapped politely against Kai’s door. “Oh one second,” Kai said as he paused the game. He stood and answered.

“Mira has arrived upon your request, sir.” Davis gestured to Mira who was standing behind him.

She waved sheepishly. Kai knew that she had never been comfortable with Davis escorting her around, and it was obvious from the way she held her other awkwardly in her pocket.

“Oh, right!” Kai chuckled and stepped aside to let Mira in. “I forgot I invited you over too. Sorry.”

Mira smiled and shook her head as she stepped into the room. “It’s alright. I could see you playing your game pretty intensely from outside.” She smiled politely at Luca before asking, “Is Adam coming?”

“I invited him, but he had practice.” Kai lied. He didn’t know why he didn’t just say that Adam wasn’t invited to this particular get-together (mostly because he was acting weird and he also already knew Luca. Not well, but he didn’t need an introduction. And it was already painfully clear that Adam wasn’t fond of the guy, for whatever reason). “Anyway,” he gestured toward Luca, “this is Luca! He’s the friend I wanted you to meet.”

* * *

What were the chances that the friend Kai was inviting over would be Mira? As soon as she stepped through the door, Luca felt his face go hot, and he hoped that he wasn’t as red as he felt. He rubbed his ruddy nose and picked at the dirt under his thick fingernails. He didn’t know that Kai was friends with her. He only ever saw him hanging out with Adam.

Mira sat next to him in math. It was a class that he knew he was too dumb to be in, but one that his dad had pulled strings to enroll him in even so. Mira was so smart, and he had always wanted to ask her for help, but he could never seem to get the words out. He just sat there, all six feet of him wedged into his little desk, afraid to even breath too loud.

Luca was like one of those fainting goats, and even as Kai introduced him, he couldn’t seem to compose himself long enough to offer even a partially-normal response. He was painfully aware of the strange looks that both Mira and Kai were shooting his way, so he nodded stiffly in acknowledgment.

Mira took a moment and then cleared her throat. “You’re in my math class right?”

Luca nodded again as Mira sat in Kai’s desk chair. She leaned over the back of the chair, folding her arms on the top of the backrest. Once she settled, Mira smiled. “It’s nice to finally talk to you. You’re kind of a quiet guy.”

“Umm… yeah,” Luca ventured a little. “I never have much to say.”

“Quiet is good. Especially since both me and Kai always have too much to say.”

Luca laughed mildly before shooting a look at Kai. He hadn’t meant there to be any weight behind the glance but without Luca’s knowledge, his eyes apparently said, “Please save me right now.”

Kai blinked at the apparent terror in Luca’s face and patted his hands against his pockets. “Mira, you wait here for a sec. I meant to show Luca the swan pond out back.”

Mira nodded in understanding. “Of course. Honestly, that pond is kind of amazing. But, Luca, watch out for the swans, they _will_ bite you, no matter how much you love animals.” Mira rubbed her left hand, as if recounting some terrible, dark memory of a life-changing swan attack.

The two friends left Mira with her flashback and strolled out the back door and into the elaborate garden. Kai stopped in front of a small lake that had about six swans floating serenely on the surface of the water. Mira was right though, despite their elegance, Luca couldn’t help but think that the birds were staring him down with a malice that of which he could hardly comprehend.

“What’s wrong?” Kai asked.

“Oh, I just…” Luca rubbed the back of his large neck. “I didn’t mean… I mean… Mira…”

It didn’t take even a coherent sentence for Kai to put two and two together. “You have a crush on her? Oh, dude I’m sorry I wouldn’t have invited her over if I’d known.”

“No it’s okay!” Luca assured him quickly, his eye contact wavering as it often did when he was overwhelmed. He went back to picking at his fingernails and focused on watching the swans swimming oh so peacefully. He clasped and unclasped his hands, licked his dry lips, all while Kai waited patiently for him to be okay to talk again.

“She’s pretty. And she cares a lot about stuff. I would like her to care about me too.” Luca went red again and covered his face.

“Well, first you should talk to her. She’s a really cool person.” Kai laughed awkwardly before admitting, “I had a crush on her too when I first met her. She’s worth getting to know.”

Luca removed his hands slowly from his face.

“You ready to go back in?”

“I think so.” Luca let himself smile. “She’s just a person.”

“That’s right, dude.” Kai patted his shoulder gingerly. “She’s just a person.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must confess…. I like Luca a whole lot. And I couldn’t help myself from giving him a little crush on Mira. Of course, Adam/Kai is still the primary focus of this story, but who doesn’t love a little side romance? (Most of my favorite romance tropes come from K-Drama and you can’t have a good romantic K-Drama without well-developed secondary relationships as well!) Again, sorry if you don’t dig Luca, but it’s fun having a new teenage character to work with.  
> Also! I got an email from a reader named Lufee with some of their amazing The Hollow fanart! It’s not all related to the fic, but they were so sweet, I just had to promote their amazing work here. I asked their permission to include the art in this chapter, so I privately put it up on DropBox. You can click here to see the art! The art based on this fic is from the oh-so-cute first kiss scene and I am so in love! Thank you Lufee.  
> If you would like to submit your own art based on my fic, you can email me directly at spiralingrozavie@gmail.com. You can also find me on The Hollow Official Amino under the username Rozavie!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this a little later than I would have liked! Sorry about that folks! I have had no time to write for leisure what with a million essays and final projects hitting me like a ton of bricks. I literally have five separate assignments due on November 30 and I am losing my mind!
> 
> Anyways, I knew I wanted to get at least something out, so I wrote up this tiny tiny little chapter. It's small, but chock full of juicy drama ;) Hope you were ready to feel some ~emotion~ today.

The first game of the season. The temperature had finally risen to an acceptable warmth. And Kai was in the bleachers cheering his boyfriend on.

Kai still didn’t fully understand all of the baseball gameplay, but with the help of Luca, who still liked baseball despite being absolute garbage at it, Kai was able to keep up. And Kai could tell they were doing really well. And when the game ended with the home team coming up on top, Kai, Mira, and Luca all cheered with the rest of the crowd.

The three made their way down the bleachers, pushing awkwardly through other spectators who were also on their way down. Eventually, they broke free from the flowing crowd, and Kai went straight for Adam. He hugged him, ignoring how gross and sweaty he was. “I don’t know much, but I think that was a good game.”

Adam chuckled, his return hug a little tense. “It was a bit close. Coach says we have to practice more.”

“I thought it was great,” Luca chimed in with a smile. “Better than if I was on the team, anyway.”

Adam looked up from Kai and seemed to notice Luca’s presence for the first time. He let go of Kai and started packing up his stuff, his demeanor shifting from one of nervous relief to silent frustration.

Kai lifted an eyebrow and put his hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I invited you and Mira. Not him.” He zipped his back sharply. “But it’s fine.”

Luca shrunk a bit and looked around awkwardly. He rubbed his palms against his t-shirt and busied his hands with picking at his fingernails.

“What’s wrong with inviting Luca?” Mira piped up, looking from Luca to Adam, her lips pouted in the way they always did when she could sense something was up.

“He freeloaded onto the team and then quit, for one. And he’s probably only hanging out with Kai because of money like everyone else,” Adam blurted.

Mira stared at him for a long moment. Luca pulled at his nails more intensely, like he wanted to tear them off of his fingers all together. And Kai stood silently, his hands balled into shivering fists until finally, he broke his silence.

“I try to be the fun guy,” he mumbled. “And I’ve tried to ignore how you act like Luca is somehow out to get you,” his voice was slowly rising to a crescendo and he could feel anger pricking hot tears at the corners of his eyes.

“You didn’t even try to give him a chance. You didn’t even try to give my friend a chance. You got all wrapped up in your… your stupid Adam ego complex instead!

“You don’t think I can make friends on my own who genuinely care about me? Luca is a good person. And he’s the only friend I’ve got who isn’t connected to all of the crazy The Hollow stuff! I’m not your property Adam. Just because you took pity on me and invited me to be on your team, and just because you like me doesn’t make you entitled to my time.” He could feel himself getting more and more hysterical. Not just because Adam was being ridiculous, but because, deep down, he worried that what Adam had implied was true. Maybe Kai _was_ bad at judging people’s characters—but it wasn’t Luca who was the problem.

Before he could fully break down, Kai turned away and walked off, leaving Mira and Luca standing face-to-face with Adam alone.

* * *

Mira was shaking. She was gritting her teeth so hard behind her closed lips that she feared she would break all of her molars clean in half. Kai was out of sight now after exiting the area and presumably making his way out to the parking lot where Davis had been waiting to take them all, including Adam, to a celebratory dinner at Adam’s favorite burger place.

Luca was also shaking, but unlike Mira, he was shivering with tears, rather than anger.

Mira placed her hand on Luca’s back to steady him as cried, ever so gently. Adam seemed surprised, standing there stupidly in his baseball uniform. How could he be surprised? How did he have the nerve to be shocked when this sort of outburst was a regular thing for him? What a jerk.

When Mira was finally able to wrench her jaw apart and speak, she was barely able to say a thing. She had wanted to cut into Adam with angry words. To slap him out of whatever weird mood he was in. But what she said was far less biting than she had intended.

“You promised me you wouldn’t tear us apart again.” It tumbled out mushy and full of uncried tears. But Mira knew that she wouldn’t be able to articulate anything else. So she gingerly took Luca’s arm and walked away.

And then Adam was alone, standing in an empty diamond, the evening making its way to twilight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate to leave y'all on such an emotional cliffhanger, but I think I'm going to officially call a hiatus of this work until after Thanksgiving. I don't think I'll be able to update anyway with all of the stuff I have to get done, and seeing as I post on Thursdays, I don't want to post on the holiday. So it makes the most sense to me to just hit the pause button!
> 
> I plan to resume this story on Thursday, December 3 (after the holiday and after I've finished a lot of the work I have to sort through). So so sorry again, but I hope you guys understand. 
> 
> If you want to read my other work in the meantime, I will continue updating my other story "We're the G.O.A.T." which is a Laika studios college AU. I prewrote like six chapters of that story, so all I have to do is copy and paste. Also, feel free to send me fic fanart at my email spiralingrozavie@gmail.com. If I get stuff, I'll probably post a special chapter just sharing art.
> 
> I'll see you all in December!


	19. Author's Note

Hi guys. I know I said I would update yesterday, but I have to extend my hiatus until after the end of the semester. I can't juggle everything. I've gotten a staggering amount of new assignments and I need to focus on school right now. 

I will be back in a few weeks. I want to stress that I am NOT giving up on this story at all. I don't plan on abandoning it anytime soon, so please please stick around. If you want to talk to me directly or send me art or anything, please feel free to reach out to me on my email spiralingrozavie@gmail.com.

Thanks for understanding and I'll see you in a little while.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this today! I am officially breaking my hiatus (at least for a little while)! Thank you so much for sticking around while I took my much-needed break. You all are amazing! Now, enjoy!

Kai’s usual chipper attitude was nowhere to be found. Mira had never seen the guy in such a horrible mood. He was still going to school—which was good because if he started skipping classes again, there was no way the principal would let it slide. But even so, he had been all out of sorts since Adam’s melt down.

“Kai, you can’t keep blowing off your English class.” Mira approached Kai cautiously one morning as he was on his way to hide in the bathroom for the next forty-five minutes. “I know Adam is there and you don’t really want to see him right now, but you should think about your grades.”

“I can always retake a class,” Kai responded, barely glancing in Mira’s direction. “I would rather flunk than deal with him right now.”

Mira held her books tighter to her chest and nodded solemnly, leaning against the lockers. “I understand. I haven’t talked to him either…”

It had been three weeks since Adam’s little outburst at the baseball diamond, and Mira had actively been avoiding him, and his texts, the entire time. Even though this drama was probably impacting Kai a whole lot more, it still hurt to know that Adam was falling into old habits. She really thought that this time would be different.

As the two stood in momentary silence, they noticed Adam approaching from down the hall. Before he could make his way over, they said their farewells and wandered off—pretending that they hadn’t seen him at all.

In her rush, Mira crashed into someone further down the hall—someone tall, solid, and familiar. She looked up at Luca and let herself smile. Mira was glad that Kai had introduced them because Luca was a walking ball of sunshine. And with Adam on the fritz, it was nice to have another friend at school.

“Is Kai feeling any better today?” Luca smiled back, although the scrunch in his thick eyebrows betrayed his concern.

Mira shook her head. “Not really. Why?”

“I wanted to see if I could come over and hang out,” Luca rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, “but he’s probably not in the mood.”

“You can always come over to my house if you want.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

* * *

Luca breathed a sigh of relief when Mira asked him if he wanted to work on homework (instead of playing video games). Luca liked playing video games with his friends, but Mira was even better at playing than Kai, and Luca wasn’t really in the mood to have his butt inevitably kicked.

Still, math was a different kind of struggle. But he knew he was getting better. And he knew that Mira was happy to see his grade slowly climbing from a D, to a C, to now, almost, a B.

“What did you get on the last test?” Mira asked as she helped Luca through a particularly tough equation on the homework sheet.

“B.” Luca smiled proudly. He had never once felt good about his grades in math. He was comfortable in every other subject—especially history. In fact, he knew the entire history of this very town from back to front and was happy to recite it to anyone who asked—but math was a beast that Luca had never been able to tame. Until now, that is. 

“Nice! I actually completely tanked it.” Mira lifted her pen away from the paper and held her chin to her fist with a sigh. “I’m going to have to do a retake.”

“What’d you get?” Luca didn’t know it was possible for Mira to trip up in this class—or any class, for that matter.

“A big, fat D. I just didn’t prepare.” She shrugged. “I need to learn to balance tutoring with studying.”

“I’m sorry…” Luca looked away and began picking at the skin around his finger nails. “I didn’t know… You don’t have to tutor me…”

He was overtaken by a sudden flood of shame. He had been using up all of Mira’s time. He was preventing her from doing well in her classes. He was a bad friend.

“I like tutoring you,” Mira said suddenly, reassuringly. “I really do.” She smiled at him, a fond twinkle in her eye. “I like hanging out with you in general.”

Luca rung his hands awkwardly. “Even though I tore you and Adam apart? I should apologize to him-”

“No you shouldn’t!” Mira put her hand on top of Luca’s, stopping him in the middle of answering one of his last math problems.

Luca turned pink at the touch, and Mira did as well. But she kept her hand where it was.

“You don’t owe Adam anything,” Mira insisted. “He’s the one who needs to apologize to you.”

“But why? I’ve been keeping Kai so busy.”

“You are the nicest guy I’ve ever met, which is saying a lot because Kai is pretty nice.” Mira tucked one of her blue streaks behind her ear and cleared her throat. “Adam should be happy that Kai found such a good friend.”

“Anyway!” Mira stood up suddenly. “Let’s go get donuts or something. We deserve a break from studying, don’t we?”


	21. Chapter 21

Adam was going to need more than just luck, Vanessa thought to herself as she nodded at Mira on her way out the donut shop’s door. Adam was generally a nice person, but there were nasty parts under that perfect hair, and he had some serious reparations to make.

Vanessa walked on the edge of the curb, sipping her juice in contemplation. She knew she had to hear the other side of this story. And there was no way Kai was handling this well. He was sensitive.

It didn’t take long before Vanessa found Kai hanging out in the nearby arcade. He was engrossed in a true classic—Pac Man.

Vanessa leaned against the arcade machine and dug a quarter out of her pocket and placed it up on the corner of the screen. “I get next game.”

Kai jumped in alarm, and as he did, the little yellow dude on the screen took a nose dive directly into a ghost. “Oh, tough break,” Vanessa teased.

“You distracted me!” Kai complained. “I was on level 30! That’s the furthest I’ve ever gotten.”

“Well, at least you got the high score.”

Kai shrugged and entered his name into the machine “KAI” before turning to his purple-haired friend. “What brings you here?”

Vanessa knew that he was just feigning the ease in his demeanor. His eyes were shifting all over the place, and there was a constant quiver in his lips. “I came to chat about Adam a bit. You got time?” She pushed him away from the machine with her shoulder and inserted her coin.

“I have time… But I don’t want to talk about Adam.”

“Well, I _do_ have time. And if I don’t have someone to distract me, I’m going to beat your high score.”

Kai put his weight against the machine and rested his head on the side. “Why do you care?”

“One,” Vanessa spoke as she guided Pac Man around the screen carefully, yet swiftly, “You’re my best friend. Two, I just chatted with Adam and this whole situation is a mess.”

“You talked to Adam!?” Kai protested, straightening up.

“Oh don’t get yourself worked up. I’m the only person who will answer his calls and I was curious.”

Kai exhaled and shrugged. “And?”

“And…” Vanessa’s fingers paused, and she abandoned her game. She looked up at Kai sincerely, her eyebrows knotted. “He makes you happy… I don’t want your relationship with him to end the same way ours did.”

“Vanessa…”

“If he’s actually wrong for you, you should at least break up on decent terms.” Vanessa pushed her bangs back and sighed. “I’m not saying to get back together if that’s not what you want to do, or if that’s not what’s good for you. All I’m asking you is to keep a window open for him. Just in case he realizes his mistake.”

“Why should I?”

Vanessa leaned forward and planted a kiss on Kai’s cheek softly. “You don’t deserve another heartbreak.” She moved back and looked at the arcade machine with a half-smile. Unlike Mr. Pac Man, she thought as the poor yellow character died at the hands of another pixelated ghost, she hoped that this wasn’t Game Over.

* * *

It was clear, judging by the horrified look on Mira’s face that she wasn’t ready to talk to Adam. Luca hadn’t expected him to be in the donut shop either, but he was more than ready to confront Adam.

He reached over and squeezed Mira’s hand firmly before breaking away and walking right up to Adam. His chat with Mira had boosted the little confidence he had and the first thing he wanted to do with this spark of self-assurance was to defend himself. “Kai is the only real friend I’ve ever had,” Luca said, staring down at Adam, his hands bracing against the table. “And I’m not sorry for being friends with him. I am sorry that we aren’t friends …”

“Luca…” Adam tried to interject, but Luca stopped him with a wave of his thick hand.

“I’m not trying to mess up you two up. I just want a friend. _Kai_ just wants a friend!”

“He has friends…” Adam mumbled. “We’re good enough for him.”

Mira interrupted, finally coming over to confront Adam. “It’s not a competition. You know for a fact, underneath all of that misguided jealousy you have built up, that Kai has enough love for everyone!” She held onto Luca’s hand again and smiled up at him appreciatively. “Luca is so special. Not just to Kai, but also to me. So… do what you will, but you don’t own Kai, or me. And I’m not going to abandon Luca just because you can’t control your emotions.”

Luca blushed a deep red and smiled shyly at the ground, rubbing his thumb over Mira’s sharp, yet surprisingly soft knuckles.

“Wait!” Adam stood, finally getting a word in. His eyes were filled with tears. “I messed up. I was so afraid that I was being replaced for no reason! I’m self-absorbed and temperamental, I know.” He sat back down heavily. “I don’t want to be this person anymore. I almost lost Reeve forever because of this and…” he looked up at Mira, “I couldn’t stand it if I lost either of you.”

Mira seemed hesitant, but Luca wasted no time. He sat down across from Adam and placed a steady hand on his shoulder. “There’s still time to fix this. I don’t know if Kai will want to kiss and make up, so to speak, but you should tell him how you feel. And apologize. Even if it doesn’t end with forgiveness, it’s a start.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm straight up not having a good time right now (just received some pretty bad news) so just wanted to reiterate how grateful I am for everyone who reads this story and everyone who invested in it. All I want is to make people smile with my work, so knowing that so many people enjoy my silly little story brings me more happiness than anything else.
> 
> See you next update.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for posting so late! I didn't have this written up. I've been going through a lot of crappy family stuff right now so I keep forgetting to write. It's a great outlet for me though so I'll try to be better!

“Can I invite Adam over to your house after school?” Luca had approached Mira in the lunch room, his tray holding nothing but a single order of mac & cheese and a chocolate milk. He sat down as he awaited her answer, anxiously trying to open his carton with his big, clumsy hands.

Mira absently grabbed the milk and opened it for him before putting it back down on the table. She leaned her chin in her hand. “I don’t know, Luca…” she breathed. “It might not be a good idea.”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to see him!” Luca quickly assured her. “I just didn’t want him to be alone.”

Mira raised an eyebrow at Luca as he took a sip of his milk.

“I mean…” He fiddled with his fork, an unsure smile dancing on his lips. “Ever since he said those things to Kai, I’ve just seen him wandering around school, alone, all the time. He doesn’t have anyone right now…” His eyes went downcast and he shrugged. “I know how bad that can feel.”

“Oh, Luca.” Mira sighed and looked up at the big lug affectionately. She rested her hand on his upper arm and smiled. “You’re literally the sweetest person I’ve ever met. I…” she paused and nodded to herself, “I guess, if he’s really in the mood for a change, it would be okay.”

Luca’s face lit up again and without a moment of hesitation, he engulfed Mira in an unexpected hug. “I’ll make sure he behaves!”

If Mira could have prepared herself for Luca’s hug-attack, she might have been able to stop the blood from rushing to her cheeks. But, without proper warning, she felt her entire face go red as he pulled her into his chest.

She hadn’t meant to crush on Luca, especially not amidst all of this unnecessary drama, but the pounding in her chest made it clear how she felt.

After a second or two, Luca’s arms retracted and Mira smiled when she saw that his face was as red as hers was. One good thing about liking Luca was that she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he liked her back.

Mira stood. “Well, I have to go!” She leaned down, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and gave Luca a kiss on the cheek before running off. “See you at my house after school!”

* * *

Luca had psyched himself up the rest of the day, planning to greet Mira at her house with a kiss on the cheek. But when he got there with Adam in tow, he was suddenly overcome with uncertainty. Maybe that kiss was a mistake? Maybe Mira didn’t really mean it?

“Are you… gonna ring the doorbell?” Adam asked, snapping Luca out of his thoughts. 

“Oh… yeah… Sorry.” He reached out hesitantly and pressed the bell with a shaky finger. It would be okay. How does someone accidentally kiss another person on the cheek? He would just do it. It would be fine!

In a few moments, Mira answered. “Hey,” she greeted the two. “Come in.” She side stepped to make room for Luca and Adam to enter. But Luca stayed glued to the spot.

“Hi…” He stood there for a few seconds his fists opening and closing at his sides rhythmically. Where had his courage from earlier today gone? He supposed that it was different being face-to-face with her.

Eventually, Luca leaned down and pecked Mira on the cheek and, surprising even himself, gently held her hand. His face instantly went hot and he muttered a “sorry” as he tried to take his hand away. But Mira held him there reassuringly, as if she had been hoping for him to do this all along.

Luca could feel Adam’s confused gaze on their backs as Mira lead him inside, holding his hand like they were a real couple. But for once, Luca was too proud of himself to notice what anyone else might think.

They made their way up to Mira’s room, where Luca took a seat on the floor like he always did. The desk chair was too small for him, and he felt weird about sitting on a girl’s bed, so this was the most comfortable place for him.

But instead of propping herself cross-legged on her mattress like usual, Mira joined Luca on the floor. Adam sat on her bed.

“Did you think of a way to make it up to Kai?” Luca ignored the redness in his cheeks as he got down to business.

“He’s not big on production,” Adam said. He looked down at his socks solemnly. “For Valentine’s Day, he tried pulling off this big fancy dinner, but we just ended up watching movies and cuddling. So, based on that, he probably just wants me to be honest and real.”

“No huge romantic gestures.” Mira nodded in agreement. “That’s probably the right call. Doing something like that could be read as insincere.”

“Exactly my thoughts,” Adam agreed. “I just want to say sorry. I want him to know that those things I said were horrible and wrong, and that I love him so much. It’s not going to fix what I did but hopefully he’ll give me a second chance and I can redeem myself with time.”

“That sounds like a really good idea, Adam.” Luca smiled comfortingly. “When were you thinking of apologizing?”

“Probably right after this…”

Mira stood suddenly and hoisted Adam up but the armpits. “You should go now! While you’ve got your emotions running.”

“Wait, what? I’m not ready!” Adam protested, pushing back against Mira.

“No preparation required for a sincere, heartfelt apology!” Mira was amazingly strong for her size and wrestling Adam out of her room didn’t seem to be much of a fight for her. In a few seconds, Adam was down the stairs, and out the front door.

Luca watched her from the top of the steps as she forcefully ushered him outside. She closed the door and turned, and caught Luca watching her with a puzzled look on his face. She trotted up the stairs and shrugged at him. “What? Sooner is better than later. And besides… I want to spend some time with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry not sorry for this Mira/Luca centric chapter. I made Luca myself and then manufactured this ship and I just love them. It is entirely self-indulgent and I have no shame. Though, I know y’all like Luca so you might not mind anyway.  
> I am sorry for holding off the big apology scene. Next week, I’m planning on posting another Mira/Luca chapter. I don’t have any ideas for the story after the apology, but I don’t want to stop writing. I’m not quite ready to part with this storyline or these characters yet (especially Luca because he doesn’t exist anywhere outside of this fabricated canon). So I might write more filler/take another hiatus while I mull over the trajectory of this story after this arc is finished. I know this will come to an end at some point, but with everything going on in the world, and with The Hollow being cancelled, I think we all need this kind of story right now.  
> See you next week for more cuteness!


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for missing my post last week! I realized on Friday that I had forgotten (even though I had this prewritten days in advance) and I just decided to wait until this week. The chapter is shorter than usual, but that's just because the plot worked out that way. Anyway, enjoy!

“I’m really confused by number eighteen.” Luca tapped his pencil against Mira’s desk, puzzling through a particularly difficult math question. Somehow, Mira and Luca always ended up studying or doing homework whenever they were alone. Luca wasn’t going to complain about the help, but he had hoped that after Adam left that he and Mira would maybe do something else. Something romantic.

As he sat there, mulling over his calculations, he kicked himself internally for expecting something more than their usual study session. Just because Mira kissed his cheek and held his hand didn’t mean she liked him, or that he wanted to do anything more than be friends.

Mira looked up from her own homework which she had sprawled out on top of her bedspread. She hopped up and came over to look over Luca’s shoulder. “Show me? We can compare.” She leaned over him, planting a hand on the desk next to the worksheet.

Her face was suddenly very, very close. Luca’s mouth felt dry, and he forgot all about his math homework as he tried to ignore the pesky butterflies in his stomach that liked to materialize whenever Mira was nearby.

Luca watched Mira’s mouth moving as she explained the math problem to him, but he found himself incapable of focusing long enough to figure out what she was saying.

“Got it?” Mira looked back over her shoulder at Luca with an expectant smile. Their noses were practically touching, and all Luca could do was turn a deep shade of red.

A tense silence fell between the two, something that didn’t happen very often. Usually, Mira filled the space with some kind of chatter, or their silences were comfortable and busy. But now, the air hung heavy with some kind of unspoken expectation.

Their faces grew closer, but then suddenly, Mira looked away. She let out a heavy sigh and sat back on her bed. “Listen, Luca…” it sounded like she was trying to break his heart with an ice pick instead of a jackhammer. “I’m sorry for my mixed signals but I don’t think we should… you know?”

“Kiss?” Luca looked down at his homework.

“Yeah…” Mira paused for a long moment. “I like you Luca, a lot. I want you to know that. But right now, we probably don’t need any more dating drama to deal with.” 

Luca stayed still for a second before gathering his things and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. He was crushed—shattered into a million itty bitty pieces, but he simply smiled as best he could. It hurt, but whatever he did, he needed to show Mira that it was okay. “You’re probably right. But to avoid any… developments… I’m gonna head home.”

He felt bad for leaving her, but if he stayed, he would simply burst into tears. And he certainly didn’t want to make Mira feel any worse than she already clearly did.

“You don’t have to leave.”

“I need to be home for dinner anyway.” He opened the bedroom door and paused for a second. He glanced over his shoulder and gave Mira a chipper thumbs up in one last ditch effort to assure his friend that he would be fine. But the moment he was out of the house, his face was wet with tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided that none of these characters can have nice things right now. Gotta make it a little bit spicy for all the parties involved. Resolution will come I promise! (And I’m planning on drawing Luca soon so that y’all can know what he looked like and what I envision in my head. I’m not sure if I should draw him in The Hollow style, or in my style, but we’ll see! Tell me if you have a preference in the comments!)
> 
> I’ll see you for the next update!


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost forgot to post today!!! Sorry about that.

Kai’s house didn’t always look so unwelcoming, but now the mansion seemed to loom over Adam like a bad omen. He had to apologize, he had to show Kai that he was dedicated to being a better boyfriend, but the thought of Kai rejecting him completely was almost too much to handle. After a moment of deep breathing, his face hardened with a reenforced resolve.

The guy had the right to turn Adam away if he wanted to, and whatever happened, Adam owed it to Kai to at least try.

Slowly, Adam walked on wobbly legs up the front steps leading to the entrance. Even though the sun was out and the ambient air was well over 60 degrees, everything felt unbearably cold.

It took Davis what felt like hours to answer after Adam rang the doorbell. The butler greeted him with a polite smile and spoke, “It is a pleasure to see you again. Will you be visiting with master Kai?”

“Um… yeah…” Adam rubbed his hands together rhythmically. “Could you tell him I’m here? I just have to tell him something and I think he would like it more if I stayed out here.”

Davis lifted a quizzical brow at Adam, but nodded obediently. “As you wish. Master Kai will be out in a moment.” The door clicked shut once again and Adam sat heavily on the front steps.

He didn’t even know if Kai would bother coming outside, especially once Davis announced who his visitor was. Adam was relieved, at least, that it didn’t seem like Davis knew what had happened. He couldn’t bear it if Kai’s butler hated him too.

After what could have been anywhere between five and fifty minutes, Adam heard the front door open and shut quietly. Socked footsteps padded across the porch and in a moment, Kai was sitting next to him on the steps. Well, not next to him—he was about six feet away—but he was there, and Adam had never been so happy in his entire life.

“What do you want?” Kai’s angry voice was never something Adam would be able to get used to. He had first heard it back in The Hollow, when they thought that Mira had drowned, but even though Adam had heard it before, it was so out of character for him that it made him wince.

Anger was not an easy emotion to bring out in Kai, and knowing that he was the cause of it tore Adam apart.

“I came to tell you that I’m sorry,” Adam said, looking over at Kai. “And not some lame, obligatory apology either. I hurt you, and I poked at an insecurity that I should never have poked at. All because I felt like I was being replaced by Luca who, might I add, I now realize is definitely not into boys, and is actually very sweet.”

Kai chuckled a little, but stopped himself.

“I was busy with baseball. I told you not to come to practices. And Luca was there to spend time with you. Expecting you to make time for only me, when I haven’t been bothering to make time for you is just… unfair.

“You wanted a friend who wasn’t part of everything that had happened in The Hollow. You, Mira, Reeve, Vanessa, you’re all I need but I realize that you’re not me, and that you need someone who is just normal. A genuine friend who doesn’t know all of the trauma that we’ve been through as a group. Luca is that friend, and I am so sorry for trying to take that away from you.”

Adam was so wrapped up in his speech that he didn’t notice Kai had moved closer to him, not until he bumped him softly with his shoulder.

“We haven’t talked in almost a month,” Kai thought out loud. “And I didn’t expect the first thing you’d say to me to be such a heartfelt apology.”

“What did you expect?” Adam asked warily, raising his eyebrows.

“Oh, just a couple of bad excuses,” Kai teased as he entwined his fingers with Adam’s.

“So does this mean you forgive me?”

“Maybe.” Kai shrugged. “It really hurt. What you said. But, I think this is a pretty good start. Just don’t go crazy with jealousy again and I think we’ll be okay.”

“That, my friend, is a deal I can make,” Adam assured him as he rested his head comfortably on Kai’s shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! Resolution! I actually have some fun ideas for how to continue this story. The next chunk will take place over the summer before Adam’s senior year, and senior year itself. There’s a really good chance that I’ll start focusing on Mira and Luca more, while still exploring Kai and Adam’s relationship. I also want to give Vanessa and Reeve more love, and figure out how to potentially bring other characters from the show into the fold (like Nisha, Tyler, and Iris. But no promises on that so don’t hold me to it). I’m not sure how yet but honestly I’ve diverted so much from the constraints of canon at this point, I don’t think it matters “how” to anyone reading this.   
> Anyway, don’t be surprised if I take an itty bitty hiatus as I try to sort through my ideas. They’re numerous, but scattered. So I need to reign them in so that they make a lick of sense on paper! See you later everyone! And stay safe and healthy!


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the hiatus! But I DO have a surprise at the end of this chapter.

Luca let out a deep sigh as he trudged out of his classroom at the end of the school day. Anyone who saw him could tell that the physically imposing young man was feeling rather downtrodden, and while Luca was glad that Adam and Kai were alright, he hadn’t been able to revel in it.

Ever since Mira told him that they shouldn’t do anything to cause more drama within the group, Luca had been doing his best to avoid her. This meant also avoiding Kai and Adam who, he could tell, were starting to get frustrated with his constant elusiveness. But whenever Mira would come around, Luca couldn’t stop himself from making up an excuse and leaving in a hurry.

He wasn’t mad at her, at least he didn’t think he was. Rather, he was angry with himself.

Despite his friend’s request to stay just that, friends, Luca couldn’t seem to shake his pathetic crush. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop himself from wanting Mira as more than just a friend. So, avoiding her was his last ditch effort at preserving their friendship.

As soon as Luca stepped into the hall, his train of thought was abruptly interrupted as he came face-to-face-to-face-to-face with Kai, Adam and Mira. It was apparent that they had been waiting outside of his classroom to corner him, and he looked down at the three like a frightened deer who was staring at the business-end of a fast-moving truck.

“Hi?” Luca greeted them uncertainly, his eyes darting around in a desperate search for escape. He was always self-conscious about his size, but now he cursed his muscular, towering build for making it near impossible to slip away from tough situations such as this.

“Where have you been, dude?” Kai was the first to speak. “Are you okay?”

Luca could barely look at the half disappointed, half worried look on his first ever friend’s face. He shrugged dumbly and said, “I’m fine, um… Busy busy busy.”

Adam spoke up next, “Is this about me? Because I really am sorry for all that-”

“No!” Luca interjected, the sudden loudness of his voice drawing stares from other students passing in the hall. He blushed and quickly lowered his head.

“No…” he repeated, his tone returning to its usual meekness.

“You’re clearly not okay, Luca,” Mira said, her bottom lip pouting out in concern as it often did when she was worried about one of her friends.

Luca glanced up at her guiltily. His eyes lingered on hers for a moment, and he desperately wanted to tell her what was really troubling him, but he didn’t want her to think that this new division in their friendship was her fault.

But, even if he said nothing out loud, Mira figured him out. In the brief moment Luca looked into her eyes, he could tell that he had given himself away.

Her eyebrows knit together and a silent realization dawned in her eyes. She seemed like she was about to say something but before she could, Luca decided he had no choice but to get himself out of this intervention—by whatever means.

“I’m really sorry about this,” Luca mumbled. Hesitantly, he placed his meaty hands on Mira’s waist, lifted her like she weighed absolutely nothing, and physically moved her out of the way, creating an opening for himself to escape.

All three of his friends were left blinking in surprise, and Luca took the moment of shock to make a break for it. As he dashed at full speed down the hall, he called another apology over his shoulder, but didn’t dare look back.

* * *

Luca usually ate heartily at dinner, being such a big kid. So his father noted how strange it was he hardly touched his food—especially considering meatloaf was his son’s absolute favorite.

A solemn look hung heavy on Luca face and his fork poked uninterested at the meal in front of him.

After a few moments Mr. Clark, who was a principal but rather terrible at speaking to young people, especially his own child, broke the silence, “Is something the matter, son?”

Luca looked up quickly as if he was shocked that he had company in the dining room. After a moment, his eyes went downcast again and he shook his head simply. “I’m okay, dad.”

Mr. Clark tapped his fork against his plate softly before placing it onto the table. He entwined his fingers over his mouth and leaned in closer to his son, a posture he often assumed while trying to connect to Luca’s classmates at school. He had read in a book once that this posture implied interest and put children at ease.

He pressed carefully, hoping to get Luca to tell him what was wrong, “Is everything okay with your classes?” Although the two had never been what anyone would consider “close,” Mr. Clark’s limited fatherly instincts told him that Luca was definitely not okay. And, despite both of their awkward dispositions, Mr. Clark loved his son and he couldn’t stand to see him hurting.

“Classes are fine.”

“Won’t you tell me what is going on then?”

“It’s silly, dad,” Luca said. “Friend stuff. I won’t let it get in the way of my grades so don’t worry.”

Mr. Clark paused stupidly for a moment and his posture faltered. “I don’t care just about your performance in school, son.”

“I know…”

“I’m sorry if I…”

“It’s really okay, dad.”

An uncomfortable silence fell upon them, but Mr. Clark wasn’t going to let his son think he didn’t care about his problems. So he broke through the discomfort and spoke again, “I care about every part of your life. Including your friends. If you want to tell me what’s bothering you, I’ll listen.”

After a couple of seconds of worried quiet, Luca opened his mouth and let it all go. About the Mira girl, and how he felt, and how he wanted to be respectful to her. And Mr. Clark, although he didn't fully understand his woes, listened to the sorrow of his son’s young and tender heart.

[This link leads to a pic of Luca that I drew! The embed picture function is not working for me so I have to do it this way. Sorry.]

<https://rozavie.tumblr.com/post/643474657218035712/my-oc-luca-clark>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you notice that my writing isn't as up to par as usual, that's because I'm an idiot and I picked a bunch of really reading-heavy classes this semester. I wanna write because it's fun, but my brain hurts. I'm trying my best!


End file.
